On Monday, we went on a mountain biking adventure with Melanie & Toby. We went to a park in McKinney that was out in the middle of nowhere but it had great trails! I was the amateur biker of the group so I held up the rear. :) We spent a couple of hours out there & had a great time. It was definitely a good workout! Let's do it again, Schultes!
It was a great birthday weekend! Friday was my b-day, but we chose to celebrate it on Saturday due to knowing how tired I would be Friday night after a long 1st week of school. Saturday morning I started the day with an hour massage, which was incredible! Saturday afternoon I spent the day shopping with my mom, which is always a treat! Saturday night, Steve took me out to a nice italian restaurant called Nicola's in the shops at Legacy. It had a great atmosphere, was delicious & we had a wonderful time! What a great birthday!
Well, as we all know school is back in session! I just finished my 1st week of school with my new group of 1st graders. We all have very full classes--21 kids each! (the max is 22 per class) Although they are quite the talkative bunch, they seem like they are going to be a good group of kiddos. It was a long & exhausting week but I am looking forward to a great year in 1st grade!
Yesterday I helped host a wedding shower at my house for a long time family friend, Ashley. Our families grew up together & we went on many family vacations to Disney World & Destin, Fl with them. Fun memories! There were about 50 people at my house yesterday for the shower and it all went great. Ashley is going to be a beautiful bride!
Steve & I just got back from a week in Key West! His parents own a timeshare there, so we fortunately get to enjoy it with them! We always go the first week in August because it is the opening week of lobster season in Key West. Steve and his dad always spend a day or two diving for & catching lobsters! There is quite an art to it as lobsters are very skiddish creatures. This year, Steve caught about 10, but was only able to bring back 3 due to the others being pregnant or too small. His dad was able to bring back 4 & we had a big lobster dinner one night (I ate chicken). :) They had a blast lobster diving! On the other hand, scuba diving didn't work out so well for me this year. Steve & I went on a pretty dive but I ended up getting very sea sick (even with dramamine!). They say once you get down under water you feel much better, but that wasn't the case for me. I spent most of the 1/2 day dive trip hanging over the side of the boat, if you know what I mean. It was terrible & pretty embarrassing. Luckily, I wasn't the only one sick so that made it a tad bit better. A few of the other highlights were: sunny days by the pool/beach, pool bingo(steve's mom won the jackpot!), sunset dinners on the beach, getting to be in a commericial shoot, touring Hemmingway's home, shopping, Mallory Square and much more! We absolutely loved our trip to Key West--thanks Marlene & Sheldon!
Our formal living and dining room has been without curtains since we've lived here which is over 3 years. I've just never really found anything I loved or that were reasonably priced enough for all the windows. Well, this summer, my mom & I decided to make some! We went on an extensive fabric hunt at all the fabric stores in the area & ended up finding a fabric I love at Cutting Corners. My mom has been so patient with me as she taught me along the way how to make them. Making curtains really aren't that hard, it is just very time consuming. I did all the cutting & ironing & she did all the sewing & hand stitching. Well, a month later, all 7 panels are now complete and hanging! Thanks, Mom, for all your help! :) Below are a few pictures--I only have a before pic of 1 set of windows.
On Saturday, Abby & Rudy got married. They are good family friends of ours & my youngest sister, Kendall, was a bridesmaid. It was a beautiful wedding & Abby was a beautiful bride! I can't believe my little sister's friends are now getting married! This was the first of our marathon weddings for the rest of the year. We have at least one or more every month thru December--we are happy to go to them though! :) Below are a couple of pictures of family at the wedding but somehow I don't have any of the bride & groom on my camera! 
Last week, I got together with a couple of my college roomies, Sarah & Katie, for craft day! Sarah had discovered an awesome craft, figured out how to make it & had us over to do it. So fun! The letters come in different sizes & you can either hang them on the wall or lay them on a shelf against the wall, which is what I did with it. It was actually really easy & inexpensive & I could totally see myself making them for wedding or baby gifts! Below are a couple of pictures of us & the final products! Thanks, Sarah, for a fun day!
This weekend we went down to Lake Conroe to visit Steve's parents. His brother Clay & our nephew Clayton came to visit, as well, which was a treat because we don't get to see them very often! The weather held out for us in the afternoon on Saturday & we were able to spend some time on the lake jet skiing and also got some good sun at the pool. Clayton is the most adorable 3 year old & we had such a great time playing with him & getting to know his fun personality. He is so funny! On Sunday, we battled some rain, but still managed to find some time for boating. We always enjoy our visits in Conroe!
One of my best friends from college, Laura, came in town from Conneticut with her little girl, Lily, while her husband is deployed for 6 months with the Navy. Getting to play with sweet Lily was so much fun. Lily had trouble saying "Halie" so she would just call me "Ya,ya" -- too funny! We ate some good mexican food & had to go to Laura's favorite--Benningan's, since both of those don't exist in CT! Laura is currently pregnant with her 2nd baby & we're anxious to find out if its a boy or girl! Below are a couple of pictures with them. Lily would look at the camera and say "cheese!" So cute! 
We had a great 4th of July with our lifegroup & the weather ended up being perfect! The Webbs had us all over to their new house for a cookout. The guys spent most of the time out in the backyard in a tight competition of washers while us gals hung out inside so our very pregnant friend Courtney didn’t get too hot! :) Later that night, we all played a few rounds of the game “the king & the slime sucking pig” which is a fun card game for a lot of people and ended the evening with sparklers in the backyard! Thanks for hosting a wonderful 4th of July, Casey & Trichelle!
Yesterday I pulled into our driveway & noticed 2 ducks walking towards me in our alley--no pond near! I got really excited & ran & got our camera. By the time I got back, the ducks were headed up our driveway rather quickly. I snapped a couple of pictures and then I freaked out because they were waddling so fast towards me & about to come into our garage. So I hit the buttone to shut our garage and they went the other way. Whew! I didn't realize ducks would freak me out--I guess its rare they are coming towards you! :) hehe
A couple of weeks ago Steve & I took a vacation to Iberostar Paraiso Del Mar all-inclusive resort in Playa Del Carmen and had an wonderful time together! We did a lot of hanging out at their HUGE pool and the beach. This beach had fairly large waves that Steve spent hours body surfing on. :) In between the pool & beach time we managed to eat our little hearts out! The food was wonderful--I think our favorite was the Japanese Hibachi Restaurant but we couldn't pass up the amazing guacamole that we ate everyday! They also had a lot of activities such as bocce ball, ping pong tournaments, wind surfing, sailing, etc. We had such a fun & relaxing time together & would recommend this resort to anyone! (Unfortunately we lost our digital camera on day 2 of our trip, so we had to buy a Kodak disposable camera. Once I get the pictures put on CD or scanned, I will post them!)
My new 1st grade team for next year got together to go bowling & get to know each other last week. After bowling, we headed to TGI Fridays for an afternoon snack! We lost 2 teammates & are gaining 3 for next year. While we are sad to see Rhonda & Kristy go, we are really excited about Amanda, Courtney & Lanette joining us!
Today was field day for 1st grade and it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day for it! The kids spent about 3 hours running around to different games & competing against one another. The teachers decided we would have some fun too and the kids enjoyed cheering us on! Below are a few pictures of our fun afternoon! 
Baby fever has started in our Lifegroup! Yesterday we hosted a baby shower at our house for Courtney & Dustin--the first couple to be pregnant in our Lifegroup. We had a blast cooking out, playing the dirty diaper game, opening gifts & hanging out. Many blessings to the Alban's & sweet baby Hannah!
For one reason or another Halie and I haven't been able to have our "official anniversary dinner" until last night (over a month late). Halie was really sweet and planned a fancy dinner for us at home. She really pulled out all the stops... candlelight, wine, and we ate on our china for the first time ever! I told her that this is how I always envisioned marriage - her serving me a good hot meal in the dining room in a dress and high heels. :) Just kidding, but it really was probably the most romantic thing she has ever done for me. She also capped it off with cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory! What a great memory!
It's been a while since we've posted--so sorry! A couple of weeks ago we got granite counters put in our kitchen! We have been wanting to do this for a couple of years now, but there were some other projects that came first. :) It turned out to be quite a big job from going to the granite warehouses to pick out our slabs, choosing a new backsplash, picking out a new sink & faucet--but it was all worth it! I think we have finally cleaned up all the dust that filled our kitchen and house too! Here are some before & after pictures--notice how "white" our kitchen used to be!
Yesterday I discovered this really great website www.picaboo.com. It is a website where you can use your digital photos & actually create a scrapbook with backgrouds, journaling, etc! The prices are reasonable too--only $9.99 for the small book. Its perfect for me because I always dread getting out everything you need to make a scrapbook and then having to clean it all up. This way there is no mess & you still get a great scrapbook! I love discovering new things! :)
I was awoken at 6:10 this morning by my assistant principal with the news that we didn't have school today. I was so confused b/c there were no predictions of this and she had to assure me that it was pouring snow & sleet outside. Sure enough--its was! Steve and I decided to go play in the snow & ice this morning across the street on the track & playground. We found some chunks of ice that we used for "ice hockey" on the track and there were many snowballs thrown (more like flying snow/ice--not packed snowballs). It was fun though!
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