The Schlaiss Family

I can’t believe Christmas is right around the corner! My oh my how time flies! One of my favorite things about Christmas are all the holiday cards that get sent our way. Our refrigerator is always covered with some of the cutest designs. Since this is my first year as a Mrs. I think Christmas cards are a must! I have been on the search for some cute, trendy, Christmas cards and I’m pretty sure I found just the place.

Shutterfly has always amazed me with their awesome ideas and cute ways to make memories last a lifetime and their cards this year do not disappoint. Here is a link to their endless collection of fun cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards I’m really loving the elegant cards with just a few pictures for me & Andrew. I’m trying to debate between the flat Christmas cards or the folded ones that allow you to write a little special greeting for each family. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards I think it is so hard to find cards these days that actually say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays.” I think that is super important when deciding on a card. I also really love the idea of a calendar! What a cool way to keep track of dates and appointments with something you created! http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

I can’t wait to send our very first Christmas card as Mr. & Mrs. Schlaiss and send tons more in the coming years!

A few days before Halloween consisted of pumpkin carving, caramel apples, pumpkin pie, pumpkin seeds, and somehow Halo snuck its way into this festive evening. We had a few friends over to join in the fall goodness. Here are a few pictures from our evening:

The Anti-Pumpkin Carvers

Pumpkin Seeds! Yum!

I love decorating our house for the holidays. I think its so cool how just some small touches can instantly change the feel of our home. Here are some of my simple DIY additions...

Halloween Lanterns made from jars hanging around the house

Our candy dish (a semi-costly bowl but worth visiting Haley at work to paint pottery)

A cute pumpkin from my mother-in-law on our buffet

Centerpieces on our kitchen island and table

A wreath that only cost $10 for all the supplies

Like many other Arizona natives, I absolutely adore fall! It is by far the best weather all year long! I know this is just the beginning stages of fall, but I am still so excited! The only thing Arizona is lacking is the changing colors....but I will let that slide and settle with the gorgeous weather that doesn't make me freeze.

This fall I joined a class on the Song of Solomon with the Womens Ministry at Scottsdale Bible Church. I'm not going to lie I was seriously skeptical when joining this class. I thought my friend was crazy when she suggested it. For some reason I still view myself as a youngin' and "Womens Ministry" just sounds so old...plus I kind of sort of have a dislike of woman teachers. I totally went into this class expecting to hate it (which is way wrong and a sure way to set myself up for failure), but guess what?! I love it! I honestly look forward to every Tuesday because of this class! Our teacher has such a gift for teaching other women and knows her stuff. I respect the fact that she has taken the time to go to Seminary to further her knowledge on the topic and that she chooses to take time out of her busy life to teach and mentor other women.

To say that I am anxious is an understatement. School starts in less than a week and I have yet to even land an interview. I know God has some awesome plan for my life, but I can't help feeling nervous about this whole job future thing. I know I'm not the financial provider in our family, but at times I feel pathetic, like I don't contribute much to our little family. I know these are all lies I tell myself, but at times its hard to believe anything else. Never in a million years would I ever have thought that it would take this long to get a teaching job or even an interview...I know this is God's way of breaking me. Only when I truly trust in His guidance and will for my life will the answers become so perfectly clear as to what I'm supposed to do. When I think about my future a thousand emotions come to mind: anxious, excited, nervous, impatient, leery, naive, hopeful, etc. I need to stop focusing on things that I THINK I need (my teaching job) and trust that God is in control. Who knows maybe teaching isn't my thing and God has another career in mind?

Matthew 6:31-34

"Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' "For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I know, I know what a cheesy title this may be but its 100% true...Andrew and I are currently reading a book titled "I Love a Firefighter." It was a wedding gift from his Captain. Along with the book came a very sweet, heartfelt note from his wife. Needless to say I was very touched by the advice she offered us and their sincere concern for Andrew outside of the workplace. Public Safety workers (Firefighters and Police Officers) are known to have one of the highest divorce rates. In fact, a lot of Andrew's coworkers are divorced and definitely have some negative opinions about marriage. Many tried to talk him out of it and some even offered him some pretty sweet vacation getaways if he didn't take the plunge.

Andrew and I have been married for six months now and I have definitely learned a lot about the fire service. I always knew a lot because my brother is a fire fighter as well, but I never realized the small effects it can play on a marriage. Reading this book with Andrew allows us to discuss some of the tough subjects and find ways to turn them into positives, so we don't turn into another statistic. For example, the long hours he is gone. They are normally only 24 hrs, but sometimes it can be as long as 72 hrs. Those definitely get to me! I get lonely at times, but I'm learning to try and look at the bright side: I get my own "me" time when he is working, I get the whole bed to myself, I don't have to worry about cooking a nice meal, and the fact that those long hours apart mean long hours together...sometimes.

I'm still trying to learn that just because I slept the night before doesn't mean he slept at work. When he gets home I'm ready to be with him and spend every second with him when sometimes all he needs is some peace and quiet or a nice nap. Oops...still working on perfecting that one. :)

If I saw this book in a store I probably would've laughed at anyone purchasing it just because it sounds so ridiculous, but it has been such a blessing to us. Some of it makes me laugh at how heroic and glamorous people view fire service, but I truly think it is important to have a slight glimpse into what Andrew deals with at work and to understand that at times hows it spills over into family life. While I will never witness or deal with some of the emotional things he sees on call, I now have a deeper understanding of why he does things the way he does and how I can support and help him as his wife in certain situations.

All of this to say that I love my studly firefighter. While at times it is rough being home extended periods of time without him, I can honestly say I wouldn't have it any other way. I am proud of my husband and the profession he has chosen. Reading this book with him has only deepened my respect for Andrew. I know that with God as the foundation of our marriage that we can beat the odds set against us. Oh and did I mention that he looks great in uniform?! :)

It seems like yesterday that we were in California enjoying the cool weather and awesome photo session. This week Radiant Photography finished their pictures from our time with them and all we can say is WOW! We are so glad we took the incredible opportunity to take pictures at all the unique spots San Diego had to offer. Its impossible to choose favorites when every single picture is spectacular in its own way, so here are just a few:

First we started off at the Torrey Pines State Park

Next we headed to a hang gliding cliff in La Jolla
There we found beautiful fields of yellow

Then we found a cool pathway of dirt walls
Our last stop was the gorgeous beach in La Jolla

The water was so cold
But definitely worth these AMAZING pictures!

I can't even begin to express what a fun shoot this was! I can't imagine spending five hours in uncomfortable heels, a tight dress, and cold weather with any other photography company. I have only positive things to say about Radiant and the amazing husband/wife duo behind it all! I am 100% positive that they will always be our number one choice for any of our photography needs. I will probably even just make up photo sessions just so we can hang out with these busy people more often :)

A HUGE thank you to Scottie and Breanna for all your hard work! I seriously adore the passion and talent you both possess. We LOVE our pictures and I'm pretty sure every single wall in our house is adorned with at least one photo. We love our friendship and how much it has grown over this past year. To sum this all up before it gets too cheesy: You are awesome and keep rockin at life!

Life has definitely been eventful these past few weeks and I am so grateful for a loving Father who never left my family's side. God is so good!


Saturday, June 26th, my mom had a severe migraine. It was so intense that she couldn't sleep much, walk much, and her blood pressure had sky rocketed. This continued throughout the weekend, but we thought it was just a bad headache due to stress or a lack of sleep. Monday rolled around and the migraine was still full force. My mom went to work Monday - Wednesday with the help of Tylenol to semi relieve the pain. By Thursday, July 1st, the pain was so bad that she stayed home from work. In the afternoon she started vomiting, so we took her to the Emergency Room. At Scottsdale Shea she received several CAT scans and MRIs. The doctors found a pool of blood and concluded that she had an aneurysm. Since an aneurysm is so dangerous, they wanted to begin surgery as soon as possible. They were going to send her to Scottsdale Osborn but they were packed, so they transported her to St. Joes. Such a miracle in itself! She was given the head doctor at Barrows and for some reason he had some doubt about the whole situation. All prior testing led doctors to believe it was an aneurysm, but he wanted more testing so he could be 100% sure. After extensive testing all day Friday, the doctor concluded that there was no aneurysm! Can you imagine if he (or any other doctor) went through with the surgery to find out that no aneurysm exists?! My mom gets to keep her beautiful scar free head. I know God was nudging on that doctor's heart to just keep testing and testing!

So how do you explain the bleeding in her brain? My mom had a brain hemorrhage (the same exact thing Bret Michaels was recently in the hospital for...the same hospital actually). They told my family that 50% of the people with this issue do not even make it to the hospital in time and of those people that do only 50% survive. My mom is part of the fighting and surviving 25%! Such a blessing! During her stay there were times where her sodium levels would drastically drop or her heart rate would become so low that they would give her oxygen, but God was there through it all. She was released Wednesday after about a week in the ICU. She will return in the coming weeks for continued testing. She is currently resting, relaxing, and regaining strength. Its still a long road ahead of us, but we are just so incredibly grateful for the amazing mother that God has blessed us with.

Wow it feels good to be home. I love vacations, but boy oh boy did it take a lot out of me. We didn't even get to sleep in our own bed between these two trips. Here is a recap of our trip to San Diego and Chicago:

San Diego, California
I don't even know what negative thing there is to say about San Diego. Such a glorious vacation spot. Whats better than cool weather, the beach, and not a care in the world?!?

1. Our tire blew out in Buckeye! No worries because I married a stud who fixes things for me, but that did slow us down by two hours while we waited for Discount Tire to get us a new tire. Luckily we ate wings nearby while we waited.
2. We tried a new hotel in Downtown San Diego. Super fun! It was nice to be able to walk to many different restaurants. The Bristol Hotel was super chic and had a zebra black, white, and red theme so naturally I fell in love.
3. I experienced my first earthquake! 5.7 earthquake while we were on the 7th story of our hotel. It wasn't scary because it was a rolling motion versus an intense shaking. I literally thought Andrew was shaking the bed until I realized the whole room was swaying back and forth.
4. We spent almost 5 hours taking pictures on the beach and tons of other outdoor locations with Radiant Photography. We did a little "Trash the Dress" session, but in reality my dress looks exactly the same. All the dirt and sand washed right off :) (If you ever need wedding, maternity, senior, family pictures, etc. look into this company! Well worth your time and money! www.radiantphotographyaz.com)
5. We were introduced to Bennigans' Monte Cristo Sandwich. Delicious! Thanks Scottie & Breanna!
6. We spent a relaxing day at the beach and eating yogurt in the park.
   
7. My all-time favorite part of the trip: We first went to Seaport Village and bought tons of delicious, chocolate goodies. We then drove to La Jolla and ate them while we watched the waves rolls in. My favorite thing to do is soak up the gorgeous starry sky and listen to the crashing waves. It reminds me of what an amazing, powerful God I have. I could literally sit there every night. I love sharing moments like that with Andrew.

1. It was pouring rain the second we arrived at the hotel. It was also super windy, so I was curious to see how our night to tour Downtown was going to unfold. Luckily the rain stopped and gave us a few hours before it continued.
   
2. Andrew's Dad took us to the neighborhood he grew up in. We saw his old house and all the different areas he used to frequent. I like that sort of stuff, so it was fun to hear all his stories and different memories.
3. Uncle Danny took us to a Police boat on Lake Michigan for a view of the city. I really enjoyed being out on the water and watching the sunset over the city. It pays to know people! Free, private tour that was cooler than the boats people were paying to go on.
4. Uncle Danny also took us to a fire station in the heart of Chicago. It was interesting to see the differences between a traditional, older city and where we live. I'm glad Andrew works in AZ...much better in my opinion :)
5. We went to a cousin's wedding. I am envious of all the greenery in Illinois. Perfect for outdoor weddings!
6. We never stopped eating there. We had to experience it all in a few short days! We had beef sandwiches, homemade Italian ice, pizza, pasta, ice cream sundaes, and more.
7. The Rockford Airport now has a special place in my heart. They had a waiting area for kids. Needless to say, that's where Andrew and I waited for two hours. I mean who could pass up the chance to watch Peter Pan?!
   

Well this is my first blog! How exciting...yet nerve racking! I honestly don't know what I will write about, but I've always wanted to start one...I figure now or never! Please bear with me, my rambling, and of course my awful grammar. Enjoy!

Life is finally starting to settle down and I LOVE IT! I'm officially done with school and on the teaching job hunt (totally freaks me out), but I know God will provide. Andrew works 24 hr shifts which really stink when he is working, but it is so fun when he is off! I absolutely love spending full days with him! I can spend the whole day with him doing completely nothing and still feel like I had the best day ever. Oh the joys of being newly married :) I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Summer is officially upon us in good old Arizona. Today was a whopping 110 degrees. Whew! I cannot wait to beat this heat and vacation with Andrew this summer! I think that is one of the best parts of being newlyweds. We are so young and carefree. We don't have kids or huge commitments in life. Plus Andrew's work schedule is so easy to plan around, so we can randomly pack our bags and spend the weekend somewhere new. I'm looking forward to all the adventures that await us.