User Error

Since we've moved out of the apartment, I have made a greater effort to take better care of our stuff. I wasn't always as concerned if the washing machine broke or the carpets got a little bit dirty at the apartment. Hey, you could just call the maintenance man, and all would be healed. Yet, in my quest to be a good home owner, I have encountered a few "omg, I'm such a dodo" moments. It's not the houses fault. It's mine.

User Error #1:

I was baking fish one night, and I didn't have any foil. I put a piece of wax paper on the baking sheet instead. Wax paper is NOT the same as foil. If it weren't for that smoke alarm, I would have needed more than a maintenance man.

User Error #2:

The lamp in the bedroom blows the fuse. I call my dad. He told me to check the breaker box. I did... three times. My dad offers to come check the outlets. He drives from an hour away. "I thought you told me you checked the breaker box."

User Error #3:

The toilet is flushed. The toilet overflows. I discover Bailey's dog bed is soaking wet in the other room. It look me an hour to realize it wasn't dog pee. The toilet water had seeped through the wall.

User Error #4:

The day before going back to work from Christmas break and my car won't start. I call Kyle. He and his partner from work drive over to look at it. The car starts the first time... I leave my keys in the ignition and have a very hard time finding them the next day.

User Error #5:

A questionable smell is coming from the laundry room. I start to wipe out the front, rubber part of the washer and pull out a very slimy sock. I wondered where that thing had gone.

What am I going to do with myself?

Middle School Valentine's

Valentine's Day really does hold a special place in my heart. Kyle and I first starting dating near Valentine's Day, and four years ago, we brought home our sweet, little Bailey. But, from the perspective of a middle school teacher, Valentine's Day is a whole new ballgame.

Before the school day had officially begun, a mob of preteens stood in line in the cafeteria to buy $1 carnations for their boyfriend/girlfriend/themselves. (Don't you remember those days well? Young love). By the time the first bell of the day rang, most of students had already eaten at least one piece of candy. And, once the bell to dismiss first period finally came, I thought to myself, "Is this day really just beginning?"

Valentine's Day in a middle school is simply a hormonal, sugar-filled, carnation-surplus kind of a day. Rules don't exist and being loud is the only option. Oh, and that emotional lesson I taught on fair-trade chocolate last week? Out the window. Those kids of mine had chocolate shoved in every free space of their pockets and backpacks.

I can usually tell when the day is almost over. The candy binge starts to slow down and the carnations are barely hanging on to the stem. And when the last bell of the day rings and I walk around my classroom picking up handfuls of candy wrappers, I let out a sigh of relief. I did it. I survived middle school Valentine's Day.

Blogging

     I've been debating back and forth about deleting the blog. There are some things that I want to write about, but it seems too personal to share with the world. And, there are other topics that I think, "Who really wants to read this?" How many stories can I write about my dog?  Nevertheless, I'll keep it around for a little while longer.
     Since blogging last, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and almost Valentine's have come and gone.

Quick Recap:

• Kyle and I hosted my family at our house for Thanksgiving. Josh and Meghan were going to their in-laws, and my mom's kitchen wasn't quite done from the flood. The meal was very scaled down compared to my mom's typical meal, but I was just impressed that I was able to cook some of her recipes. For the Schielack Thanksgiving, we went to Rockdale. The Aggies played Missouri the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so we did Thanksgiving at Granny's house the day after the game.
• We went back to Rockdale for the Schielack Christmas. We were there a few days before Christmas, and we came back on Christmas Eve. Kyle and I went to the Christmas Eve service at our church, and it was the first Christmas Eve of my life to not sleep at my mom's house. Christmas morning with Kyle was my favorite memory from the holiday season. We woke up at our house. While I prepared the salad for my family's dinner later on in the day, Kyle drove over to Starbucks for holiday drinks and pastries. We proceeded to open gifts. There was something so comforting about spending the first part of Christmas morning together.We drove over to my mom and Gene's house around 10 a.m. and went through our normal Christmas traditions- stockings, gifts, breakfast. The only thing different was that Josh and Anna did a gender reveal for baby #2... another boy. He is due on Kyle's birthday.
• New Year's is my least favorite holiday. So much hype and expectation. We went over to a friend's house party. Champagne and friends... New Year's in a nutshell.
• And, while Valentine's is still 3 days away, Kyle and I have made reservations at a restaurant near our house. We have never done much on Valentine's. It always fell near our dating anniversary, so we would double up the anniversary/Valentine's celebration. Since Kyle's work schedule has been ridiculously busy, just dinner will suffice. We have both promised each other no gifts... aren't we romantic?

Random phone pics...

Bailey wrapped up like a burrito

Forcing Bailey to pose in front of the tree

Christmas lights on the house!

The cutest face ever

Sleepy dog

Kyle's obsession with Johnny Football youtube videos

Off to the Calf Scramble Badge Party

Okay... that's as good of an update as I've got! :)

My Kind of Weekend...

     These are the kind of weekends that I look forward to the most. Besides Kyle's work barbecue on Saturday, we didn't have to be anywhere, and there were no plans. Kyle recently moved in to a new office at work, so we had thought that we would go up to his office on Friday night. A few things needed arranging and cleaning, and we are the kind of people that would find that to be an exciting Friday night. Well, I came home from work in a very "it's Friday!!" kind of mood. I walked in to the house and saw our new Christmas tree just sitting there, and I couldn't convince myself that it shouldn't be taken out of the box despite the November 9th date on the calendar.

    After assembling the tree and fluffing the branches for over an hour, I decided that I was indeed in the Christmas spirit. I started harassing Kyle to come home from work and suggested that we head up to the Nutcracker Market. Well, what would guess? Kyle said that sounded like a good idea, and he needed to see what this Nutcracker Market was all about. Next to shopping with my mom and sisters, nothing is better than shopping with your hubby -what a fun Friday night with my Kyle.

     Saturday morning we slept in, or at least I did. As long as an alarm clock doesn't wake you up, I consider it sleeping in. Kyle was up at 6:15 a.m., and he attributed his early rise to the momentous Aggie game that awaited. We lounged around the house until it came time to get ready for his work barbecue. The barbecue started at 3:00, but Kyle told everyone that he would only be there if we could show up at 2:30 and a t.v. would be playing the A&M/Bama game. As we all know, the game was worth watching (if you are an Aggie fan, that is). We might have been the worst guests at the party because by the time we walked out of the house after the game was over, all the other barbecue attendees were leaving. We didn't care though. We left with big, goofy grins on our faces. Our Ags had pulled out the greatest victory ever!

    And, on Sunday, we went to Sunday school and finished our study of Daniel, went to worship service, and enjoyed a lunch out at Corner Bakery. We made our way over to Cavendars to pick out a few Christmas presents for Kyle since he is on Calf Scramble this year. And now, I am listening to RedZone, doing laundry, and aimlessly browsing Etsy.  Now, this is my kind of weekend.

Bailey's Exaggerated Facebook Life

     We all have those friends who exaggerate their life on Facebook. Incessant posts about how "wonderful" their life is and the bounty of Instagram pictures to "prove" it. Of course, we know that exaggerator-Facebook-person would never tell us the dirty details of their life, so we just go on assuming that exaggerator-Facebook-person's life really is that wonderful.  Well, today, as I took a picture of my sweet bulldog curled up in a chair, I realized that I was at fault for the very thing I accuse exaggerator-Facebook-person.

     You see, when Bailey is lying down or asleep, I can't help but take a picture of that snuggly, wrinkled face. I am like a mother watching her baby sleep. However, like most mothers, I just pray that my oohing and aahing doesn't wake the monster "baby". Believe me, Bailey is a sweet dog, but you won't catch me tagging pictures of her peeing on the bed or barking like a rabid dog at the t.v. Oh no, who would want to see that?

     Not only have I become exaggerator-Facebook-person when it comes to the aforementioned "sweet bulldog," Bailey's been stringing me along as well. Bailey pretends she can't understand a word I say to her when it goes against her desires. 

Allie: "Bailey, off the couch... Bailey, drop the ball...Bailey, sit... Bailey, lay... Bailey stay... Bailey, no!"

Bailey: "la, la, la.... I can't hear you."

But then, say the magic words...

Allie: "Want to eat?... Want to go on a walk? ... Ready for bed?... Want a treat? (oh, you sit if there's a treat in my hand, huh?)"

Bailey: "Sucker."

Isn't it amazing that she knows the latter phrases but not the ones that would help me out a little? Well, Bailey, you don't fool me... you just sucker me in every time. And, I'm pretty sure there's nothing I'm going to do about it.

The truth? I had to hold a treat above my phone to get her to look at me. :)

Car Trouble and a Troubled Kyle

The alarm clock sounded at 3:45 a.m. on Saturday morning, and Kyle's two feet immediately hit the ground. An 11:00 a.m. kickoff time against LSU wasn't going to keep this hard-core Aggie from tailgating before (and after) the game. Kyle "graciously" gave me an additional ten minutes of "sleep", but before I knew it, he obnoxiously starts encouraging me out of bed. This peppy attitude was not mutual, and, regardless, wouldn't last long.

Well, all is going as planned. We will be on the road to Aggieland at 4:15 a.m. I finish getting ready while Kyle loads the car.

Kyle: "Okay, Al, let's go."

Me: "Alright, I'm ready."

Kyle goes to back his car out and move it in to the other space because we are taking mine.

Kyle: "Man! Why today?!"

I stand in the driveway very confused.

Me: "What happened?"

Kyle: "My starter is out."

Me: "What does that mean?"

Kyle: "We aren't getting to College Station on time!"

Me: sarcastically thinking to myself "Darn, we won't be at the tailgate at 5:15 a.m.!"

So, before Kyle has a full blown anxiety attack, we devise a plan.

Kyle: "We are going to push the car back a little, and then, we will push it up and over in to the spot."

Me: "I don't think this is going to work."

Kyle gives me the evil eye.

Me: "Okay, lets try it."

We start to push the car down the driveway, and all seems to be going smoothly.

Kyle: "Okay, lets push it up now."

We start to push.

Me: "Umm, its not going anywhere."

Kyle: "You think?"

With the car hanging half way in the road and not moving an inch, we frantically Google 24 hour towing services. Not for one minute is Kyle distraught about his nonoperational car, but if we didn't get to that tailgate before the sun came up, well, we might as well not show up at all.

Thankfully, and for the sake of my husband's sanity, the tow truck promised to come in a timely manner.

Kyle: "Okay, they said they'd be here in 40 minutes. Let's go."

Me: "So, umm, we are going to leave the car here in the middle of the road and trust some random person that we Googled will come and get the car."

Kyle: "Yep."

Me: "Okay then."

We hop into my car and drive through the grass around our abandoned car. Classy.

The stuck car.

Don't worry... we made it to the tailgate.

The Aggies didn't lose. We just ran out of time.

We have resigned to worrying about the car until tomorrow. After all, football is more important than knowing how you're going to get to work on Monday, right?

Ole Miss Roadtrip

Besides becoming professional wedding attenders, Aggie football has taken it's place on our weekend agenda. It was almost a year ago that we decided to take a road trip to watch the Aggies, and we decided that Ole Miss was the destination. When October 4th rolled around, we were more than ready to pack our bags and head to Oxford, Mississippi.

We, along with the hundreds of other Aggies that made their way to Oxford, spent 3 nights checking out the Square, touring the campus, tailgating at the Grove, and scraping out a victory against the Rebels. Despite the chilly/rainy game day, the weekend was super fun, and I'm looking forward to next year's Aggie road trip.

Enjoy the photo recap courtesy of my MIL...

Gig'em

MIL and mom

first night at dinner

happy hour at the Downtown Oxford Inn

Con and Kyle

Tailgate banner

all the boys

all the girls... minus me

the two of us

a celebratory picture after the most exciting win