So this afternoon, I decided to close my Facebook account. This is something that I have been thinking about doing for some time now. I can't believe that it was actually a hard thing for me to do, and I think that's pretty pathetic! The media has its hooks so deep into some of us that the computer can actually be a harmful and addicting thing. I'm not to bad on the internet as a whole, but when it came to Facebook, I spent WAY too much time on there! Not just playing the stupid games they have but "checking up" on all my friend's and family's pages. I have found out some things in the past few months that have really upset me, things I wish I would've never heard and I found it all out on Facebook. I feel that people are all too open about their personal lives on public forums and when I see them react and get so defensive about people commenting on their original threads it actually angers me. Why post something if you don't want people to comment on it? I think everyone should really think about what they post before they do it. But then again, I know there are some FB users out there that like to be the center of the drama, therefore they post anything and everything about their days (yet they still throw fits when people call them out on it). Oh well!
This has all led up to the deletion of my account. I decided that instead of being upset about what someone is doing (or not doing for that matter) with their lives I should just remove myself from the situation all together. What good does my worrying about them do for anyone? Certainly not a whole lot of good. There are some people that need help and most of them refuse it when it's offered. Well I am done trying to offer.
I see this change in my life (and as I'm typing these words I feel pathetic that Facebook has played such a large role in my everyday life) as a positive one. More time for teaching my children and playing with them, and less gossip to go around! Yay!
I will still be checking my email (feel free to send me a message - bschoos@gmail.com) on a regular basis and I will continue to blog and post pictures on here. I know that's one of the best things about social networking anyway, being able to get "photo" updates on the kids and parents.
Until next time, thanks for reading!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A brief update
Well it's been about a month since my last post, so I figured it's time for a little update!
Life here in Ellensburg is good (as usual), the weather has been fairly good to us, cold mornings and warming up a bit in the afternoons. We haven't seen much snow lately *knock wood* other than the occasional dusting in the morning (which melts by noon) which is a huge blessing to me! With the sun shining more and more I'm getting antsy to rush outside and start prepping my garden! If only the ground would thaw out and dry! Another reason I'm excited for warmer weather is that my daughter Evelyn desperately wants to get outside and play in the yard, on her swing set and climbing trees! She refuses to go out if it's too cold so she has spent a lot of time inside this Winter. I think we all have a little case of cabin fever!
I haven't done much this past month. It's just been cleaning, laundry, scrapbooking and the occasional woodworking. Evelyn has been asking if she can get her play kitchen back, but seeing how it has been given away that's not going to happen. SOOOOO we decided to build one of our own! We found a lot of good plans on various blogs that I follow and finally decided on making one from an old TV entertainment center! We are very excited about it and working on it as much as possible. I can't wait to post pictures to show you all, but I think I'll wait until the finished product (but don't worry, I'm taking pictures of all the stages!).
We have had a tough winter to say the least. Finances are definitely a bigger concern in the Winter months than they are the rest of the year. Our heating costs are through the roof, which is another reason we can't wait until it warms up! We had our roommate move out a few days ago, it's sad to see him move on to a different place, but great to have some personal family space as well. My mother lost her sister-in-law in late November, and her youngest brother Mark (the husband) exactly two months later this January. This came as a great shock to us all and I think there is a lot of regret surrounding his death. Mark and his wife left behind four children, two of them were 13 and 15 at the time. My awesome cousin Ashley (who is my age) has really stepped in and taken on a lot of responsibility for her sisters which is a great blessing. They just moved in with her and she will be raising them from now on. How great it is to have such a loving supportive family!
With all of the hardships of these past few months, there has been a lot of good come out of it as well. The changes in our family have been significant. It is sad that death is often the one to bring family members closer together, and it really makes us all appreciate what we have (even if we think we have it "bad"). But all the same, I'm grateful for the opportunity to get in touch with the family that we don't often see or hear from. I worry about my grandparents in California. My grandfather is old and doesn't have much life left in him, I can only hope that we get to meet again before it's too late. I love him so.
Now let's see....some good things to talk about. I recently got to visit with my sister-in-law and her family when I was in town. Evelyn just loves her cousin and I enjoy getting to watch her grow into a beautiful little girl! I always love catching up with my sister-in-law and only wish we lived closer together!
With all of the depression that hits around this time of the year, Matt really takes good care of me! He wanted to surprise me with a trip to see my best friend in Atlanta, but I blew the surprise when I asked him if I could try to surprise her for her birthday in March! When I asked he said "Well Steph and I were actually going to try to send you out there two weeks after her birthday!" I couldn't be more thrilled about going to see Steph, I miss her so much!
Anyway, I guess that's enough of an update. Here are some random pictures of the past month!
Life here in Ellensburg is good (as usual), the weather has been fairly good to us, cold mornings and warming up a bit in the afternoons. We haven't seen much snow lately *knock wood* other than the occasional dusting in the morning (which melts by noon) which is a huge blessing to me! With the sun shining more and more I'm getting antsy to rush outside and start prepping my garden! If only the ground would thaw out and dry! Another reason I'm excited for warmer weather is that my daughter Evelyn desperately wants to get outside and play in the yard, on her swing set and climbing trees! She refuses to go out if it's too cold so she has spent a lot of time inside this Winter. I think we all have a little case of cabin fever!
I haven't done much this past month. It's just been cleaning, laundry, scrapbooking and the occasional woodworking. Evelyn has been asking if she can get her play kitchen back, but seeing how it has been given away that's not going to happen. SOOOOO we decided to build one of our own! We found a lot of good plans on various blogs that I follow and finally decided on making one from an old TV entertainment center! We are very excited about it and working on it as much as possible. I can't wait to post pictures to show you all, but I think I'll wait until the finished product (but don't worry, I'm taking pictures of all the stages!).
We have had a tough winter to say the least. Finances are definitely a bigger concern in the Winter months than they are the rest of the year. Our heating costs are through the roof, which is another reason we can't wait until it warms up! We had our roommate move out a few days ago, it's sad to see him move on to a different place, but great to have some personal family space as well. My mother lost her sister-in-law in late November, and her youngest brother Mark (the husband) exactly two months later this January. This came as a great shock to us all and I think there is a lot of regret surrounding his death. Mark and his wife left behind four children, two of them were 13 and 15 at the time. My awesome cousin Ashley (who is my age) has really stepped in and taken on a lot of responsibility for her sisters which is a great blessing. They just moved in with her and she will be raising them from now on. How great it is to have such a loving supportive family!
With all of the hardships of these past few months, there has been a lot of good come out of it as well. The changes in our family have been significant. It is sad that death is often the one to bring family members closer together, and it really makes us all appreciate what we have (even if we think we have it "bad"). But all the same, I'm grateful for the opportunity to get in touch with the family that we don't often see or hear from. I worry about my grandparents in California. My grandfather is old and doesn't have much life left in him, I can only hope that we get to meet again before it's too late. I love him so.
Now let's see....some good things to talk about. I recently got to visit with my sister-in-law and her family when I was in town. Evelyn just loves her cousin and I enjoy getting to watch her grow into a beautiful little girl! I always love catching up with my sister-in-law and only wish we lived closer together!
With all of the depression that hits around this time of the year, Matt really takes good care of me! He wanted to surprise me with a trip to see my best friend in Atlanta, but I blew the surprise when I asked him if I could try to surprise her for her birthday in March! When I asked he said "Well Steph and I were actually going to try to send you out there two weeks after her birthday!" I couldn't be more thrilled about going to see Steph, I miss her so much!
Anyway, I guess that's enough of an update. Here are some random pictures of the past month!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Bea's First Birthday!
Yesterday was Beatrix's first birthday...I'm not too sure how I feel about that! I can't believe a year has gone by since she was born, I was both happy to celebrate the day with her, and sad to see her age so quickly!
She is picking up things by the hour it seems. She has great manners (so far!), she signs DRINK, MORE, PLEASE, THANK-YOU, and GOOD-BYE/HELLO. She is picking up more signs by the day it seems and has fun signing with Evelyn. She also sings in the car when Evie is singing, she produces a great harmony! She can answer the phone with a quick "Hi!" and says "Mama," "Dada," "Love," and her personal favorite "Josh!" Also she has started to eat with a spoon and a fork instead of using her hands to shovel food into her mouth, much less mess! She loves to dance, laugh, take baths, clean (and destroy), play hide-and-seek, and "Tag." Really, there isn't a think this little girl doesn't love! She LOVES her babies, and her new favorite thing is to give kisses! I wish I could keep her at this stage forever, but time moves on whether we want it to or not.
Yesterday was Bea's birthday party at my parent's house here in Ellensburg, we had tacos! We had a lot of good friends and family come to celebrate Bea's first birthday, and we all had a great time!
Holiday Crafts
I wanted to post some pictures of some of the things I made over the holidays, so here we are!
These are some frames that I purchased and then decorated for Matthew's family this Christmas.
Here's another picture of the fabulous soap I made! It was my first attempt at soap making, a complete success! I look forward to doing this MUCH more!
Here are some more frames, however I made these! I bought some wood at the local lumber store, and got together with my father who helped me make these frames! It was our first attempt at using the router and we had a lot of fun figuring it out! Every year we give framed pictures to Matt's parents for Christmas, but this year I really wanted to make something from scratch! Also it was the first time that we had professional family photos done so I had to make good use of them! Matt helped me embellish them, and Evie helped me paint them! It was a combined family effort and we all had fun making these!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
What's the most wonderful time of the year? Tamale time!
Every year my family (near and far) makes tamales to share with our loved ones on Christmas Eve. Well this Christmas we didn't make them, we all just fell too far behind this season! We decided to do them for New Years Eve instead. So today, my mother and I (with Evie's help) made 4 dozen tamales for our family. It is a long process, but well worth it! We assembled for hours and then steamed for hours, but it couldn't have been time better well spent! I of course had to taste test a few tamales during the steaming process... they're too delicious to stay away from! It was a good day cooking with my mama. Tomorrow it'll be making chocolate candies all day!
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| The assembly |
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| Evie spreading the masa |
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| MMMM! |
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| Ojas! |
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| Evie doing the job I used to do when I was her age, soaking the ojas! |
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| Ready to be steamed :) |
It's been a while!
This Christmas my parents gave my nephews all Dremel tools with diamond bits. Oh the fun they're in for! A few years ago I spent a good couple of months etching into glass, wood and ceramic (to name a few) non-stop! I haven't picked up my Dremel since and had forgotten how much fun it can be! You can do just about anything with the right bit and/or attachment, it's great! What an awesome present to give the boys, and they all loved it! We got together yesterday and I taught them how to use it, and showed them some of the things they could do with their new tools! They caught on very quickly and made some awesome things to take home with them. Four Dremels running at once is the recipe for an instant headache though!
While I was helping the boys, and doing some Dremeling of my own, Mom was helping Evie with her new "scrapbooking" supplies she got her for Christmas, and Derianne (Mike's girlfriend's daughter) was getting into her new punch needlepoint. It was a fun day filled with family, arts and crafts, the best kind!
While I was helping the boys, and doing some Dremeling of my own, Mom was helping Evie with her new "scrapbooking" supplies she got her for Christmas, and Derianne (Mike's girlfriend's daughter) was getting into her new punch needlepoint. It was a fun day filled with family, arts and crafts, the best kind!
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| Colby and Sam |
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| Andrew |
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| Sam |
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| Colby |
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| Derianne |
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| Poor Gus couldn't get away from the noise! |
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Christmas time is......over!
Well Christmas has come and gone. I always love preparing for the day but come the 26th and everything has got to go! We woke up this morning and carefully wrapped all of the ornaments, took the lights off of the tree and chucked it out that back door (we will be burning it tomorrow)! We also took down all of the stockings and other Christmas decorations. I then proceeded to clean house top to bottom! There's nothing better than clean floors to walk on and clean sheets to sleep in! I also did 6 loads of laundry (which is nothing out of the ordinary around here), and still have the diapers to do!
Yesterday was fun, the anticipation built up a bit too much for Evelyn this year and she lost it a few times, but what four year old doesn't? We have decided that next year we won't be putting out ANY presents until Christmas Eve! I didn't take many pictures because we decided to record the whole thing instead, so now I get to go through the forty-five minute video and crop pictures out of it....yay.
For Christmas I gave Matthew a wedding ring, finally! We got married in 2007 and he has been wearing a stainless steel ring on his finger ever since! At one point right after we were married we bought matching rings, but had to return them because we couldn't pay the bills at the time! He has been wanting one ever since! With the help of several family members I was able to get enough gold to trade in to get Matthew a ring, and I couldn't wait to give it to him! Thank you so much to those of you who contributed to the ring!
All-in-all, it was a very Merry Christmas!
Yesterday was fun, the anticipation built up a bit too much for Evelyn this year and she lost it a few times, but what four year old doesn't? We have decided that next year we won't be putting out ANY presents until Christmas Eve! I didn't take many pictures because we decided to record the whole thing instead, so now I get to go through the forty-five minute video and crop pictures out of it....yay.
For Christmas I gave Matthew a wedding ring, finally! We got married in 2007 and he has been wearing a stainless steel ring on his finger ever since! At one point right after we were married we bought matching rings, but had to return them because we couldn't pay the bills at the time! He has been wanting one ever since! With the help of several family members I was able to get enough gold to trade in to get Matthew a ring, and I couldn't wait to give it to him! Thank you so much to those of you who contributed to the ring!
All-in-all, it was a very Merry Christmas!
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