2012 In Review

2012 was a HUGE year for us. In good ways and bad ways...

January 2012 - We bought a house in Wentzville, MO. Luke began working as a Production Supervisor and I began a new job as a Project Manager in IT. Sadly, my sweet Granny passed away that month as well.

February 2012 - Major renovation on the "new" house. We did most of the work ourselves and found we really loved making this "forever" home our dream home (obviously we didn't know we would be moving in a few months).

March 2012 - Not planning to start a family anytime soon (again we didn't know how different our lives were soon to be) we decided to get a gold retriever. Luke wanted one. I wanted two. You need them in pairs so they have someone to play with, right? Enter Chip & Scout:

April 2012 - After falling in love with our fuzzy children we found out we will be having a human child! Due date: 12/5/12!

May 2012 - Renovations on the house are finally winding down. We love our church home, the acreage we live on, and the baby is getting bigger every day. We have planned a July trip to Alaska! I was accepted to St. Louis University Law School and plan to attend evening classes until the baby is born and then transition to full time.

June 2012 - A lot of work at the jobs, a lot of work on the house...

July 2012 - Cruise to Alaska and salmon fishing on Luke's birthday. Luke drops the "I want to interview for a job in Arizona" bombshell. Haley freaks out. I really think that is the most accurate summary. If you don't understand why please scroll up and read about how WE JUST MOVED TO MISSOURI, OWN a house, I was pregnant, we have two large dogs, oh and Arizona is the desert.

August 2012 - Luke interviews for the job, wants it, and begrudgingly I move to Arizona... alone. I started law school in August, but Luke wouldn't start his job until October. We always felt the baby was a boy and only picked out a boy's name... Liam... we had the gender ultrasound on August 1... Liam is indeed a boy!!

September 2012 - Living in separate locations (isn't that the one thing we never wanted to do again?); Liam getting bigger; housing acquired in Arizona now falls through and we must scramble to find a new house in a few days... yay. I travel to Missouri twice and Minnesota once (to visit Kacie who took this picture):

October 2012 - Luke, Chip, Scout, and our stuff all move to Arizona finally! As you can see, Chip & Scout did most of the driving. Luke's parents came to visit (his brother, sister-in-law and their children live in the same city).

November 2012 - Luke was adjusting to his new job, I was overwhelmed with law school and getting bigger every day. I really loved being pregnant though. Over Thanksgiving break we did some hiking (baby Liam was 38 weeks and I was pretty sure he was going to arrive after the hike. He didn't. He waited until 40.5 weeks).

December 2012 - Finals... BABY LIAM arrives! Look at that little punkin'! He is the biggest blessing EVER. I love him more and more every day. My Dad and Step Mom came to visit after Liam was born. Luke's parents came down for Christmas and to meet Liam. Luke traveled to Texas for a friend's wedding over New Years Weekend.

I told you 2012 was a BiG bIg BIG year! 

2011 in Review

Since we have a lot of catching up to do let's start with 2011...

Luke deployed to Afghanistan October 20, 2010. That also happens to be the day we got married. Woohoo! It was a 'just the two of us' ceremony in Watertown, NY. It was perfect for us and we have never regretted the private, intimate nature of our ceremony. Easily the best $50 we have ever spent. I stayed in Texas and worked while Luke was overseas...

April 2011 - Honeymoon in Europe! Truly amazing. The posts with pictures can be found below

October 2011 - I quit my job, took the LSAT, and moved to NY waiting for Luke to arrive... which he did...

This was one of the best days ever! 

November 2011 - Luke and I traveled to Austin, TX for him to participate in a career fair of sorts for military personnel transitioning into a civilian career. Luke then went to Nebraska to hunt. 

December 2011 - Luke and I traveled to Natchitoches, LA where my family had a wedding reception for us (the beautiful photos below were taken by my cousin Lyne). Luke decided to accept a job offer in Wentzville, MO. We began packing and made an offer on a house in Missouri. We left NY on December 23, dropped our household goods in the driveway of our new home in Missouri and booked it out to Nebraska for Christmas

In 2012 we will move again, change jobs again, find out I'm pregnant, start law school, and welcome an amazing baby boy... whew, I'm tired looking at the last few years!

For a really long time I have wanted to restart my blog, but something kept holding me back… I have always REALLY wanted to call it “Schmidts and giggles” because I think that’s hilarious and it captures my personality. However, I was really worried about how that would be taken. Great news… I don’t care anymore. My awesome husband gave me the last name, so any use or abuse of it can be traced back to his gifting ;)

On a more serious note… it is so liberating to just be who we are isn’t it? I like, no, I LOVE a good laugh. Even though, at times, it may seem bordering inappropriate. There is a certain value in pushing boundaries. More importantly, learning who you really are and accepting that (while acknowledging ‘areas of opportunity’) can be glorifying to God! I like to think He snickered at the clever new blog title. Maybe not. Maybe He is considering taking an eraser to the Book of Life, but I really doubt it.  

So, this blog is about out family… written in my own special way… loaded with laughter and a dash of scathing sarcasm… but in the end, hopefully, glorifying to the One who has blessed me so much… with all the Schmidts and giggles we have.

((I have preloaded the posts from the old blog so only read on if you care to re-read that stuff))… and since the last post was our honeymoon… we’ve moved three times, changed jobs twice and had a child since then I think we have some catching up to do!