Learning to Sew

So around 6 times a year I have to travel to small west texas towns to relieve a CRNA for a week at a time. Currently I am away from home but I have had the wonderful opportunity to have my sweet Bobo come and stay with me @ my hotel for a few days. She had the great idea to teach me to sew, seeing that I have a lot of down time being on call. So she brought her, now my, sewing machine over and our goal was to make a baby quilt. I was super excited but a little nervous as I had never touched a sewing machine before in my life and knew absolutely nothing about quilting. 3.5 hours later, here is our final product. I am so proud to have something this special that we made together to pass along to my kids and hopefully my grandkids......okay I know am I getting ahead of myself.



Next post....baby shower pictues. I can't wait!

Babymoon

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from our wonderful trip to Austin and Fredricksburg. We have had such a good time enjoying our last few months being just the two of us. Don't get me wrong, we are excited for this little one, but part of me will miss these times having Scott all to myself. We love just hanging out together doing nothing. I better soak it all up because we have less than 3 months before our world will forever be changed. So here are the pictures from our trip...

So do we really seem mature enough to raise a baby???? We didn't just "party" the whole time. We made time to get in an educational 3D Omni movie in about the Hubble space station.

Unless you watch Man vs. Food(which I don't but Scott does) this place, Juan in a Million, doesn't mean anything to you. Apparently this guy on the show has visited this burrito joint in the ghetto of Austin and took the food challenge by eating 7 breakfast burritos. Scott was determined to visit this place and eat the burrito. To say it was a dive is an understatement. I think we were the oldest patrons there and probably the only ones not hung over from the night before.





So this stop was definitely to amuse me. Scott was less than thrilled to walk the botanical gardens, but because he loves me he was such a trooper.



We HAD to make a stop at the Hula Hut.

The view from our room downtown.

Scott really fell in love with Austin and the hill country. I can't blame him, the flat dirt of west texas doesn't quite compare to what Austin has to offer. One thing I've learned in the 30 years on this earth is never say never.......

Lots to Write About

I know that it has been a few months since my last post, but there is a good reason for that. Here is a crazy rundown for the latest Schlemmer happenings.....
January: Started full swing with my job, which btw is going great. I love working solo, but having my brother around for me to bounce tons of questions off of. Scott had to return to Minnesota for the whole month of Jan. to finish up some on-site duties with his job. That was a little hard for me having just moved here, but luckily I have lots of family close by to keep me company. I visited my new OB-GYN in Abilene and I LOVE him! He is such a nice, comfortable, and outstanding christian man. I love it that I will be delivering in the same hospital that I started my nursing career in.
February: Scott was home for about a week and then left to visit his parents in Scottsdale, AZ. His dad's cancer at the time had spread to his liver and his doctors decided to take him off the traditional chemo treatments and try their hand at experimental drugs. He had a very nice visit out there, but I knew that I had better get out there soon to see them. So, 2 weeks later Scott and I traveled together to spend some time with them. Unfortunately while we were there, his new doctors decided to take his dad off all treatments and suggested hospice care for the remainder of his time. I was thankful that Scott and I could be there to support them during that difficult time.
March: March 7th, Scott's dad passed away with Scott at his bedside. Everything happened so quickly that I think his mom and everyone else was taken by surprise. We just praise God that Rich isn't suffering anymore. It was hard on Scott to see his dad like that, but he is such a strong man. Scott ended up staying out in AZ for a few more weeks to help his mom get settled and make arrangements for his dad's memorial. We just returned from a skiing trip to Ruidoso this past weekend with some friends. This was Scott's only 2nd time ever to be on snow skis. I couldn't tell though who was better.....my 4 yr old niece or him?!?!?!
Baby Update: I am now 24 weeks along. I finally started "showing" at around 19-20 weeks. Up until that point, people except close friends had no idea that we were expecting. I kinda like it now that I have a baby bump to show off. At our 20 week ultrasound, we held our ground and left the office with only the US tech having the knowledge of the gender of our sweet baby. We have our nursery furniture and are currently trying out paint samples on the wall. My dear friend from ACU, Hayley, is making the baby bedding and I can't wait to see how it all comes together. Baby is kicking and moving like crazy. He/she especially likes to make their presence known @ 2-4 am. Sleeping thru the night has become a thing of the past. Scott and I are really excited to take our babymoon to Austin and Fredricksburg this coming weekend. He has never seen that part of TX and I can always find an excuse to go shopping in F'burg.
So that is the run down of our life happenings. We really do appreciate all the kind words and prayers that have been lifted in regards to Scott's family. We will be traveling to MN the end of April for Rich's memorial. Until next time.....

Christmas Craziness

I hope it's not too late to post Christmas pictures. I have honestly been too lazy to do it before now. The crazy weather kinda put a damper on everyone getting to Mom and Dad's house on Christmas day, but everyone made it safely eventually. I may have been the only one in the state of Texas to not be excited about having a "White Christmas." I thought I was getting out of the whole snow thing when we left Minnesota. The weather recently has made up for it though. I'll take 70's in January any day! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

These cars (intended to entertain the girls) was fun for all.



I thought this one was especially sweet!


Notice Scott's rattlesnake gaters (sp?) He is deathly afraid of snakes, so you can imagine his excitement to be moving to the rattlesnake capitol of the world!!!!



Even Woody got into the Christmas spirit!

Baby Update: I am in my 2nd trimester already. Wow the time is flying and I have done nothing to prepare yet. I met my new doctor in Abilene this past week and I LOVE him. He is a great Christian man with clients who have nothing but the best to say about him. I feel very blessed to have found such a great doctor. I will be delivering @ my old hospital that I started my nursing career at in the ICU. So I feel comfortable about knowing my way around already.
Scott has been in Minnesota for the past 2.5 weeks and I am ready to have him home. He should be leaving this time next week to start back to Texas. He had to finish up some work stuff up there, and I think wanted an excuse to watch the Vikings play with his buddies. It's probably not as much fun watching his team play, while being surrounded by Cowboy fans.
Things are starting to settle down here at home. The house is pretty much put together and I am starting to get into the job routine. Life is sure good. All I need is my hubby home with me.
Until next time...... God bless!

I Pass.......(ed)!

So it's all officially over! I took my certification board examination today, @ 12:30 to be exact and I PASSED!!!!!!!!! What a huge weight off my (and Scott's) shoulder. He said that if I didn't pass, that he was sending me to Texas alone bc he couldn't live with me and my BAD mood that I have been in for the last week (or so). No worries now though.......except for the upcoming move in 7 days, a baby on the way (who I've pretty much neglected to think about recently), and starting a new job in a semi-new town.
Oh well, life goes on. At least I can pull my nose out of the books and enjoy life now.


I sure will subject my poor baby to wearing this outfit. My child has no chance!
Have a good week everyone. I'll be posting next from our new home in TEXAS!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving 2009

As always, I must start off my post by apologizing for not being very good at keeping up with my blog. So I'm sorry.....
Now I want to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Where has 2009 gone? Here we are at the end of November, and I feel inclined to sit and write out all that I am thankful for. My cup truly runeth over!

(in no particular order)

- Finishing graduate school. I am FINISHED!!!!! That sounds so good to say! My graduation ceremony is on December 5th, but I have been finished with everything since Nov. 7th. So for the past 3 weeks, I have been studying ALL day usually from 9am-9pm for boards. Ok, so I may get in a nap here and there, but for the most part I just sit at home and study.

- For my husband. Without Scott I wouldn't be here today, only days away from being a CRNA (Lord willing). He has been my rock and my cheerleader. He has seen me in the worst of moods, he has had to listen to all my complaints, and has wiped away many tears in the last 27 months. Thanks honey, for always believing in me when I doubted myself and wanted to quit. You deserve just as much credit for my completion of CRNA school as I do. I am a better person because of you. Love you!

_ For Family and Friends. I can't leave out the ones that live both near and far away. I know you have kept us in your prayers for the past couple of years and I can't thank you enough for that. I realize I have let some relationships fall by the waste-side as I have had to commit my life to school for the past 2.5 yrs, but I have never stopped loving or thinking of you. That's just the thing with GOOD friends, you can pick it up right where you left off. So I'm picking it back up with some of you.......:)

- For my Lord. He has walked with me day in and day out, and sometimes has even had to carry me. Thank you Lord for placing me in this awesome opportunity to advance in my career and for the opportunity to go back "home." You are so good. Your blessings never stop amazing me. How wonderful you are!!! I pray that I can repay you through my actions and reciprocate my love for you to others. May I grow stronger in you and fall deeper in love with you daily.

- Finally.........for Baby July. Like I said God is soooo good. He even decided to bless us with a little one. We decided a few months ago that we were ready to start a new adventure and a new chapter in our life. So thanks be to God, we found out on Nov. 3rd that we would be expecting our first child.
Let me explain how I came up with Baby July's nick-name (that is not what Scott call's her/him). Anyway, being from TX and living up north, I frequently hear comments on the way I say things. Okay, some people just laugh and ask me to say words over and over again. Well July is one of those words that my girlfriends from school just LOVE for me to say. They think is sounds like "Jooolyyyy." So that has been my nick name for them for quite some time now. Once I broke the news to my buddies that we were having a baby, they said "Ooooohhhh, your gonna have a little Jooolyyyy" (in their best TX accent). So there it is.
I am 7 weeks along as of tomorrow. We had our first Dr's apt on Nov. 17th, and our first sonogram was today. The heart rate was a strong 122 beats/min. I could have sat there all day and just listened to it. The sound litteraly took my breath away. Baby July will be making his/her debut around July 15th!!! We are waiting till the big day to see if Baby July will be an NFL line-backer (like his daddy wishes he was) or if she will be a tutu wearing, karaoke singing, drama queen (like her mama was growing up).

Baby July, your mama and daddy already love you so much and we haven't even met you yet. I can only imagine how much this love will grow daily for you. We pray that God gives us the strength and wisdom to raise you in a house that always fears and loves the Lord above all things. Stay cozy in there and keep growing stronger and stronger. I cherish each moment God blesses me as your mom.




Happy Thanksgiving to all and I pray that this finds you well. I REALLY am going to try to do a better job keeping up the blog. Now that I finally have something interesting to write about, it should be easier to do.

Slacker

Well, I have done it again. I've let the blog go by the waste-side. Anyway, here is long post of pictures from our summer so far. This post doesn't even include pictures from our recent trip to San Diego (more to follow).
So these first few was from weekend trip to Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota. I had no idea that the Mississippi river began in Minnesota, here at this st. park.

Scott and our friends little girl, Macy infront of Minnesota's largest and oldest white pine tree.



Walking across the Mississippi.




Our dear friends. Thanks to them for showing us a new part of this beautiful state.


Mom and Dad's visit up north.

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Como Zoo in St. Paul. Which animal do you suppose was our favorite?



Made our appearance at the Anoka Co. Fair.
A Kenny Chesney wanna-be performed. Was actually a decent band.

Even had a rodeo.

Would you want to mess with this teacher???

Dad said he used to work on a tractor like this one when he was younger. The fair had some pretty cool old farm equipment that he really enjoyed.