It's been a while...

since my last post! Not a lot has been going on. The end of August we started school. I'm teaching Reading, Writing and Social Studies in 4th grade and have 2 great classes! I love it!

I celebrated my 32nd birthday in October and my sweet husband took me to Cibolo Creek Resort, south of Marfa, to celebrate. This is the 2nd year we've gone there for my birthday and I absolutely love it! It is a gorgeous place and so relaxing! My in-laws went with us which made it more special. We went 4 wheeling around the beautiful ranch. It was a lot of fun until my mother in law went down the side of a mountain on her ATV. She hit a rock and down the side she went. She drove her ATV like a pro though and thankfully she wasn't hurt! It scared us all to death though! She got back on and continued the ride. The food at the resort was amazing! Dining was family style and we met many interesting people. One being an author, Leila Meacham, from San Antonio. She's written a book, Roses, that will be out in January. I've already ordered mine from Amazon and can't wait to read it! The rest of the weekend we just relaxed. It was so nice!

My birthday was a big celebration this year! The Friday before a group of friends took me to dinner. TJ was in Houston and was missed! Then that Saturday, Twylah, Melonie and Ryan came in for lunch and some shopping. We had so much fun!

In November, the Melbourne's, Terra and Josh came in. We took the kids out to Fiddlestick Farms for some fall fun. They had a blast and so did the adults! :) It was fun being around their kids and being able to visit! Then we headed back to our house for some pizza and more visiting time. The kids had fun picking up leaves and acorns. After they left, TJ asked me where the bags of leaves and acorns went, we were going to throw them away. They ended up going home to Snyder! I thought that was too funny!! I can't wait until the next time we all get together. Hopefully it will be soon!

We went to Thanksgiving in Ozona this year and had a great time visiting with everyone! I actually didn't take pictures this time. We were too busy catching up! I will make up for that at Christmas. :) We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

We have the house decorated for Christmas and have most of the gifts bought and wrapped! Actually, I better wrap this up so that I can get out and finish our shopping. Then we're off to two Christmas parties tonight. I'm looking forward to them!

Baby making update: After my HSG test, the doctor wanted to track my ovulation pattern. So, we did sonograms to show that I am producing eggs and am ovulating. After this though, I've noticed that I'm ovulating much later than I normally do. So, I'm not sure what is going on. I wanted to give it one more month, which makes it 3 months, before I call the doctor. Our next step is artificial insemination and aren't ready to go there yet. We are hoping that we will have a Christmas miracle! That is, after all, all I want for Christmas! :) Please continue to keep us in your prayers! We appreciate those so much!

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Until next time...

Great News

I had my HSG test done today and it went very well. The doctor said that everything looked good. He will be able to give me more information Friday, when the test results are in. At that point we will talk about our next step. He mentioned starting Clomid. I was hoping to not have to go that route, but whatever works. TJ and I were so relieved to hear the good news! God is good! Thank you for your prayers!

A Change of Pace

As most of you know that past 2 1/2 years TJ and I have been trying to get pregnant. After six months of trying, I was told to wait 6 more months. After a year my doctor finally ran some basic blood work checking my progesterone, thyroid etc. It all came back normal. I had hoped he would suggest TJ being tested as well, but he didn't. He just said to keep trying and be patient. When I went back 6 months later for my regular visit, he then suggested running some tests on TJ. Those tests showed some issues which were resolved in January. I was, again, told to be patient and wait it out or go on to an infertility specialist. Well, in July I had had enough! I was ready to change this slow moving pace and get something done. After a few rough days I was lead to this verse 19:20 in Proverbs that says: Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. So, I decided to find a doctor who would listen to me and guide me. I have a dear friend, whom I taught with for years, whose father in law is an OB/GYN here in town who is well known and very well liked. I've known him for a while and knew he would be up front and honest with me. That is all I wanted! So, I met with him to discuss a few questions I had. In turn, he had questions for me regarding what tests I had had run on me. When I told him, he wasn't satisfied. He said that I wasn't ready to go see a specialist, which deep down I knew. He sat with me and laid out a plan of action, which I loved being the planner that I am. So, our next step is having a HSG test done. It is a sonogram of my fallopian tubes and uterus. He will inject dye into my tubes which will show any closures or blockage and will show any masses that may be causing problems. I've read, and have been told, that the dye could clear out any blockages that may be in the way. I have this done next Tuesday. Please pray that it all will turn out okay. I have a lot of anxiety any time I have any type of test run just for the simple fact I'm always afraid something will be wrong. I have hope that all will be well, but I still like knowing I have some prayer warriors out there. After my visit with Dr. Mendez, I felt like a world of weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Knowing that I had a plan of action and someone who would help me was a huge relief! I will let you know how Tuesday goes...

Happy 4th of July!

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy 4th of July! I hope you all have a fun and safe weekend!!

I'm one less an organ...

My gallbladder surgery went very well! However anesthesia + narcotics = an unpleasant Stephanie! I came out of the surgery in pain so they gave me some morphine, quite a bit actually, and then ended up giving me more meds when I got back to my room. Along with all that narcotics and the anesthesia I was so sick! It was horrible! I had to be at the hospital at 6:30 a.m., had surgery around 9:00 a.m. (I think. I was so out of it.), back in my room by noon, and didn't go home until 5:30. Not at all the easy surgery I was expecting! Actually, I guess the surgery was easy, but the recovery was a bugger! I'm doing so much better now! Not quite 100% yet, but well on my way. I know that I will feel so much better once I've fully recovered. Can't wait for some spicy Mexican food! :)

T.J. and I are so blessed with such wonderful friends! We appreciate all the flowers, food and visits! T.J. even had a friend that made a snuff run for him Friday night because he didn't want to leave me. So sweet!

At last, summer is here!

I'm so excited to be out of school for the summer! It is definitely a perk of being a teacher. Like April, May flew by. I can remember time dragging on when I was younger, now you blink and it is gone!

May was busy with end of the year stuff, finishing up Junior League, and working on the house. I will get those remodeling pictures up soon! Ending up the school year is always so busy, I seem to forget from year to year. I think I suppress those memories. :) It is also bittersweet! You teachers will understand what I'm talking about. You are so exhausted with all of the end of the year "stuff" you have to do (there is a ton!), excited about being off for the summer, yet sad about not seeing your kids everyday. I was blessed with a wonderful class this year. They were so sweet! It was hard letting them go. It is usually this way for me every year. My kids are why I teach!! Next year I will be teaching 4th grade. I'm looking forward to it. I will know the kids for the next two years because I taught them in 2nd grade. Huge perk!! We spend Memorial Day at the Racquet Club with some friends eating and hanging out by the pool. It was very relaxing!

Now June is here! TJ and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary yesterday. I will post more about this later. It was a nice day! Tomorrow I'm going to have my gallbladder removed. I have to be at the hospital at 6:30, ugh! Too early!! I'm ready to have it done so that I can start feeling better!

I hope you all had a great start to your summer! I'm hoping with more time on my hands I will be able to update my blog more than once a month! :)

Help!

Does anyone know how to change the font of the blog title? I figured out how to change the font of the text and everything below the title bar. Please help! :)

Where did April go?

So, I think I blinked and April was gone and May was here. I can't believe how quickly it came and went. As busy as it was, I had a great time visiting with family and friends! Sorry this post is pretty long. There are several pictures of my adventures visiting.

My first stop in April was in Ozona where we celebrated Ryan's 3rd birthday and Easter. Melonie had Ryan's birthday outside at their house. It was a Mickey Mouse themed birthday, as this is Ryan's absolute favorite character. We had yummy cake, ice cream, busted a candy filled pinata and had a great time!

Ryan and his cake. This is a normal smile

when posing for the camera. Such a silly boy!

Posing wearing his Mickey Mouse

ears that TJ I got him.

Practicing swinging at the pinata. He had

a blast doing this! He's a little destructive!

But what a sweet face!!

I stayed in Ozona the rest of the weekend to celebrate Easter. Twylah out did herself, as usual, with our traditional Easter lunch. Then we headed over to Melonie's to see if the Easter bunny had visited. We found that boy did he ever! The yard was decorated with lots of eggs, boiled and plastic. The boys were so excited! Anthony decided to not participate this year as he thought he was too old. This made me so sad, because in my mind he is still the baby. After hunting eggs, I headed home to see my hubby, who was slaving away at the house. When I got home, I found all the laundry done and house cleaned. I guess the Easter Bunny visited me too! :)

The best part about Easter is that He is Risen making it possible for us to have these precious times with our families. I'm eternally grateful for Him!

I love this picture of the Coltyn and Riley!

Sweet Cousins!

Waiting on lunch...Anthony, Ryan (who wasn't cooperating),

Coltyn and Riley hanging out on the front porch.

Ryan scoping out the Easter eggs.

Sweet Coltyn. I love this picture of him!

Riley not wasting any time picking up eggs.

Ryan helping Riley find eggs.

The boys being oh so patient while we take pictures.

Through their sweet little smiles they were

asking us to hurry so they could count their eggs.

Our baskets runneth over!

Pretty girls! Twylah and Melonie

Like Mother, like Daughters

The Stewart family!

The girls!

My next stop the next weekend was to Abilene. I went to visit Terra, Josh, Mom, Mark and Megan. Friday night I stayed with Terra and Josh. We had a great time visiting and playing. Of course we had to go to Taco Bueno so that I could have my regular burrito and nachos. It was so good! Saturday morning we got up and took Josh to the park. Then we went to see a house that Terra was looking at buying. That house didn't work out, but another one did. Congratulations Terra on being a new home owner! I can't wait to see it. After that it was off to Mom's for lunch. She made her famous gumbo, which was so good! Then Megan and I went to get pedicure's and hang out. It was so much fun! I miss being able to see them! I met back up with Terra and Josh for dinner then I was off to Midland. Terra has some great pictures on her blog: Joshua Michael Corrigan. I haven't uploaded them yet. The Sunday I got back from Abilene, I got a stomach bug, or so I thought. I couldn't seem to get over it. I finally went to the doctor this past Thursday and found out I have gall stones. I will be having my gallbladder removed as soon as school is out. Not much fun, but hopefully I will feel better!

The last stop of April took us to Amarillo. TJ and I went to visit Jeremy, Allison and Thayne. We had the best time! Thayne is absolutely adorable and so much fun! T.J. and I were just talking about how we were ready to see him again! Hopefully soon!

Mr. Cool Baby Thayne! As cute as he was

in his hat and sunglasses, they didn't stay on for long.

Playing with Uncle T.J. His laughs were the best!!

This was my month in a nutshell! I told you this post was long, sorry! I'll do better at staying up to date. As you may have noticed, T.J. wasn't in many of these pictures. That is because while I was touring West Texas, he was at home slaving away on finishing our new front door. I'll post pictures of our home remodeling another day. He has done a fantastic job so far!

Happy Easter

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love what it stands for, the newness of Spring, and the fun we have, as a family, getting together. I'm traveling to Ozona tomorrow for Ryan's birthday party and then we will have our normal Easter lunch and egg hunt Sunday. I'm so excited about seeing everyone!

I hope all of you have a very Happy Easter!

Love,
Steph.

Happy 30th Anniversary Twylah and Tony!

On March 23rd Twylah and Tony will celebrate 30 years of marriage. What a wonderful milestone! Lacretia and Melonie hosted a dinner celebration Saturday night in Ozona. We had a yummy dinner of brisket and all the trimmings and lots of fun! With 4 boys around it is always entertaining! Melonie had a beautiful cake made, which Ryan could not wait to eat. He talked about it all day. It was great to use as incentive (not bribery) :). "Ryan if you smile for the camera you can have cake", "Ryan if you eat your dinner you can have cake", it worked every time! :)

It was a great day! I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the love these two wonderful people share. Twylah and Tony, I hope you have a wonderful anniversary Monday! Love you!!

The beautiful and tasty cake.

30 years looks good on the two of you!

Ryan, Mel, Tony, Twylah and Lacretia

Ryan, Mel, Steph., Lacretia and Twylah

Twylah cutting the cake.

FINALLY! I get cake...mmm

Ryan with his piece of cake.

Ryan loves his cousin Coltyn! Either that or he's beating him up, who knows!

What cute brothers! Coltyn (8) and Anthony (10)

Poor Riley had an earache and didn't feel well.

Ahh...this is what I call relaxed!

Ollie's favorite sleeping position...

Cracks me up everytime I see him sleeping this way!

Have a great weekend!

Things we keep...

I received this forward the other day and thought I would share it with you, my friends.

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a housedress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more. But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it... it's best we love it.... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken..... And heal it when it's sick. This is true... For marriage.... old cars... children with bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... And so, we keep them close!

Since losing Mama and Papa, I understand this better! I'm so grateful to have friends and family that will care for me, love me, fix me, and heal me. Just wanted to let you all know how special you are to me and how much I love you!

Steph.

Worry no more...well, at least not all the time!

Most of you that really know me know that I'm somewhat of a worry wart. I worry about everything! I even worry, when I don't have anything to worry about. I love to watch the show Jon and Kate Plus 8. At one of my outings to Target the other day, I found their book, Multiple Bles8ings (yes, the 8 is supposed to be there). I love it!! As most of you know, TJ and I have been trying to get pregnant for some time now. It has been very frustrating! I've gone through so many emotions: excitement, worry, sadness, frustration, anger. Now, I think I'm numb to it all. Or, maybe I'm just figuring out that I have absolute no control over our situation. See, along with worrying about everything, I like to be in control of everything! Maybe the worrying issue and control issue go hand in hand, who knows. One of my biggest fears is the unknown. I'm not a fan of surprises, I need to be in the know! Well...maybe not about everything, but everything that is going to affect my life. So many times people have told me to let it go, God's in control. I know He is, I do, but I just have a hard time letting things go. Now, I really think I am letting go. Maybe I'm not numb, I'm just finally giving my worries, about not getting pregnant, to God. So, back to the book, Kate quotes bible scriptures all through the book. Many of the scriptures she quotes while describing her fears and frustrations of trying to conceive have really comforted me. It is a great book and I recommend it to all. One scripture really caught my eye and made me realize that I need to live for today and today alone:



Matthew 6:34

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own"



I'm not going to say that I won't ever worry, because I will, but I'm going to focus on today and enjoy the gifts that God has given me. I have hope that He will bless TJ and me one day with a beautiful son or daughter. Until then, I'm going to open my heart to Him more and listen to what He has to say and really try to let go of what I can't control, like the unknown...



I'm sure I've bored you with my ramblings...sorry! It makes me feel better to share my thoughts with you, my friends! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Welcome Home President and Mrs. Bush

In January of 2001, President and Mrs. Bush's last stop before leaving for the inauguration in Washington D.C. was Midland. It was my second year teaching, the Principal decided that they would send a group of students. I really wanted to go, but being the low man on the totem pole, I didn't get to. Well, when I heard that he was coming "home" to Midland after the inauguration last week, I wasn't going to miss it. Lucky for me, MISD decided to have an early release day allowing students and teachers to have the opportunity to go downtown to see "W". A friend that I teach with and I left school a little before 2:00, stood in line to go through security for about 10 minutes, and then we waited and stood and waited and stood some more. I didn't wear the most comfortable shoes, so you can imagine what my feet and legs felt like, but it was worth it! We had great entertainment: the high school bands, a couple of church choirs, the Gaitlin Brothers, Lee Greenwood (hearing him sing "Proud to Be an American" was amazing!), and Rodney Atkins. Then around 3:30 or so, the emcee announced that Air Force One (not named that anymore) was going to do a fly over so that the President could see the crowd of 30,000. Oh my goodness, that was the most awesome thing! To see a huge plane fly over you, going so low was heart stopping! It gives me chills just typing about it. :) Before President and Mrs. Bush arrived we heard speeches from local politicians and Governor Perry. The President and his entourage showed up around 5:30. He spoke for about 20 minutes. I'm very proud to say that in his speech he mentioned Sam Houston Elementary. This is where he went to elementary school and is where I currently teach. When I got to school the next day, my students were so excited that he mentioned Sam Houston. They were even able to quote exactly what he said "This ol' boy who went to school at Sam Houston Elementary has spent the night at Buckingham Palace". I was impressed! It was a great afternoon, a once in a lifetime experience! Maybe not though, maybe I have taught, am currently teaching, or will teach a future President. You know George still keeps in touch with his Second Grade teacher...

I've posted a few pictures below. My friend Jennifer, who has a blog "the Yeager's", has some awesome pictures. She had better tickets than I did and was actually able to sit in the bleachers behind him.

If you look through the tree you can see Air Force One

Pictures from Christmas in San Angelo

Here are pictures from our Christmas in San Angelo. Can you tell who our weekend revolved around? But how could we help it, Thayne is precious and so much fun!

Thayne and Uncle T.J. not so happy about the
Tech game.

Sweet Thayne

Wow...doesn't he look like he is in awe?

Hmm...I wonder what this is?

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year! T.J. and I were very busy! Riley, my little cousin, came to stay with us a few days before Christmas. We had a great time going to plays, having friends over, looking at Christmas lights, and going bowling. It was lots of fun! He is so sweet and such a great kid!

Riley and I before going to see Narnia
at our community theater.

Riley "painting" his fort.

Christmas Eve we were off to Ozona to one of the two Christmas' we had. We had a great time! We opened gifts and ate, a lot, at Melonie 's (Riley's mom) and Eric's house. Mom, Mark, Megan, and Shawn (Megan's boyfriend) came in from Abilene. Lacretia, Justin, Anthony, and Coltyn came in from Hobbs, N.M. It was loud and wonderful! I love my family!! Christmas Day we went to Twylah's and Tony's for a very yummy lunch! Twylah cooked enough to feed an army and we ate as much as an army would. :)

Megan and I Christmas Eve at Mel's.

Ryan, Riley's brother, and Eric, Riley's Dad,

opening gifts.

Mom and Twylah opening their camera's.

We came home that Friday for a few days. We just relaxed and did a few things around the house. New Year's Eve we were off to San Angelo to have Christmas with John, Debbie, Jeremy, Allison, and Thayne. We had a great time there also! It was nice and relaxing. We just hung around the house and played with Thayne, our nephew. He is so cute and so much fun! When I finally get those pictures off of my camera, I'll post them so you can see for yourself how cute he is.

We came home that Saturday. T.J. was off to work Monday and I was off to work on Tuesday. Things are finally back to normal around here and I must admit it is kind of nice. Getting out of our routine stresses me out! :)

We had a blessed and wonderful Christmas and New Year! I can't wait to see what the New Year holds for us. Hopefully a baby...keep your fingers crossed!

Happy New Year!