Life when you are almost 15 months ...

Oh to be 15 months again, when the things that matter are:

Eating - without worrying about making a mess ...

Being content with sand in your pants ...

Defining a tragedy as having to leave a park ...

Making sure you're surrounded by snacks wherever you go ...

 

Sneaking quickly away from the scene of the crime before anyone knows you were involved ...

Being almost 15 months is definitely a challenge ...

Back to it!

So it's been a really really long time since I've posted anything. I knew when I started the blog that it was likely to get abandoned ... and I better understand Job when he said "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me" (Job 3:25). I was afraid blog abandonment would happen ... and it did. :) 

But, we are about to embark on a great adventure! Our adventure recently got changed from Georgia ... to Alaska!

Since we won't see a lot of our friends and family as frequently, I decided I should get back in the habit of blogging so that we can keep everyone posted on life in lil' ol' Alaska!

We have three months until we get ready to hit the road/air to Ft. Wainwright ... and way too much to do to only have three months to do it! Physicals, packing, booking the flights and ferry, getting storage shipped from Colorado to here - and then shipping a car and household goods to Alaska, trying to get orders soon that we can get on the housing list, waiting for command sponsorship, preparing to live in a hotel for a month ... and all of the other fun things that come with Army life!!! It will definitely be an adventure ... but I know that this is where God has us or now and I can't wait to see what all He does during our Alaskan Adventure!

Soldiers aren't the only ones who fight!

When Cain met me, I told him just that - soldiers aren't the only ones who fight! I assured him that some of the fights I've seen in politics are much dirtier than some he's seen ... though in VERY different ways!

So this week I got to show him  just what I was talking about as he came with us to the 2010 Republican Party of Texas State Convention. A while back, Kassie expressed interest in the convention, too, and I was only too happy to jump on that opportunity and beg that she come along! :) Grandmama and Grandaddy also attended again this year. We had quite the little team!

 Cain didn't get to come over until Friday afternoon, but Kassie and I arrived on Thursday night and went to the Eagle Forum Banquet where Dad spoke.

Governor Perry also showed up for a few minutes. 

And ... there was a lady who (apparently???) couldn't see very well, so she came up to the front, pulled out the piano bench, moved it to the side of the piano, and enjoyed the rest of the speeches from there ... :) Have I mentioned that I love convention??? :)

The only things we had "planned" to do for convention were to attend the SD (Senate District) Caucuses and then pass out a piece Dad wrote on Saturday morning.

But I gave fair warning to Kassie that it could change at ANY time. That "any" time came around 1p on Friday when it was decided that another piece needed to be put out in the SDs for the meeting early on Saturday morning. So while I helped compose the piece, Kassie worked her Kinkos magic (trust me, it's nothing short of that!!!) and not only found one in the vicinity, but got us a discount and got them to print 13,000 pieces in a short few hours! Impressive!!! :)

Oh yeah, and we took a break from working on the piece for a quick second to get a picture with the Gov. :) We're pretty big fans. ;)

Cain arrived at the Convention just before we went to our first SD meetings at 4p.

We were there for about an hour, then we went to the RPT Banquet. Unfortunately Cain, Kassie and I didn't get to stay at the dinner for long because we had to go pick up the "last minute" piece being done at Kinkos, but we did get to meet the keynote speaker, Michele Bachmann, and get a picture with her. Definitely a modern-day hero ... and she's just a good ol' down-to-earth lady to boot!

We actually got to retire at a somewhat decent hour that evening (after venturing out to Kinkos and going to get coffee/Diet Dr. Pepper afterwards :) ). But that's only because we were getting up before sunrise to take 18 boxes of literature over to the convention center and then put it out on 8,000-10,000 chairs in a few short hours! BUT ... we did it! Between the three of us, several of our good friends from the Aledo area (Misty, Chris and Cody ROCK!) and some volunteers Joel had, we rocked it out and finished in just under 2 hours (in addition to passing out a few other pieces of literature ... so we were really flying!)! It was really nice to sit down for a bit after that!! :)

That morning we had elections for Chairman/Vice-Chairman ... enter fight scene. :) So it might have been lacking guns and flying fists, but it had everything else! It was hard-ball, back-room-dealing, questionable-tactics politics at its "best" (maybe worst :) ). Fortunately/unfortunately we were on the side not participating in that ... and we didn't have the outcome we desired. But I'm proud of the level of integrity that our candidates showed and know that this didn't take God by surprised and am interested to see the ultimate results from this outcome!

Regardless, I had an amazing time of learning and growing with an amazing hubby, great family, fantastic friend, and wonderful group of workers/friends/volunteers! Kassie and I commemorated the occasion with:

a foot picture (because we can!) 

and a reminder of what year it is! :)

Cain got into the spirit and joined Dad in wearing patriotic Texan shirts. And he looked sharp doing it! :)

I keep thinking of Proverbs 22:1 - "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches." In the end, I believe that our candidate(s) did choose a good name and didn't sacrifice their principles,values, standards or ethics for a victory. Did we want to win? Absolutely! Do I think that God is taking the outcome to do something greater - in each of us and in the Party? Yes. Because, again, this didn't take Him by surprise and regardless of our thoughts or responses, "Our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases" (Psalm 115:3). And at the end of the day, that's all that matters! He's in heaven, He does whatever He wants, and it's just our responsibility to do what it is that He asks of us - regardless of the outcome! So welcome to the world of politics! :)

In the span ...

(I actually wrote this about a week and a half ago ... but I wasn't on a computer that had the pics, so this is just getting posted. :) )

So I know it's been a while since I've updated this blog ... but well, life has a way of keeping things moving at a hectic pace at times! But we've enjoyed (mostly) every bit of the ride! :)

We got to take a day to enjoy Six Flags with Dad and some friends - and had a blast! We're TOTALLY fans of the fast pass and getting to the fronts of lines ... makes me wonder if I need to work on my patience a bit more ... :)

Cain and Dad had a competition on seeing who could make the lights go the highest ... they both did great! :)

And Kassie and I got stuffed snakes out of it ... what could be better?! :)

We also got to go spend some time in NC ... and had an AWESOME time with Ma and Pa Schuler and Cain's grandparents!

Lots of:

Walking by the yachts

Catching fish/enjoying the fun of attempting to catch fish

Going to museums

Playing cards with the family

It was a great trip - even if the Delta adventure to get there wasn't as grand (we're discovering more and more that we're NOT fans of Delta ... and we like all things American! :) ).

Now we're getting ready for the Texas Republican State Convention (it comes every two years, during election year). During the last convention, Cain had just returned to Iraq from his leave and I was attending the Convention with a broken collar bone and broken pelvis (but I DID have "fashionable" slings for the occasion! ;) ). So I'm very grateful to have Cain here to experience this convention! And Kassie also gets to come with us and I'm pumped about that -- we always come away with numerous stories from our adventures! :) It should be an interesting time of "politicking" ... but I am putting LOTS of prayer into it already, as it could prove to hold "interesting" fights. 

With all the fast-paced "adventures" Cain and I face almost daily with our jobs and life in general, we both find that we have to work on our attitudes - towards people, but also towards incidents in general. I've been working on this for a long while, so have a bit of a head start on Cain. ;) We both get frustrated with dumb drivers, slow people in lines, incompetent people, slackers, lazy people who cause more work for others, etc. etc. etc. - you get the idea. :) But several months back (before the wedding, when I was frustrated by one thing after the other and nothing was being resolved), I said to myself, "In the span of eternity, does this REALLY matter???" And the answer was nope ... no it sure didn't ... at all. Was there anything I could do to change the outcome that I wasn't already doing? Could I make the people around me change? And even if I could, would they change with the attitude I was showing?! That was a definite no! :) So now, whenever Cain and I get frustrated - or are tempted - to feel annoyed or inconvenienced, we simply ask "In the span of eternity ..." Then we take a deep breath and move on. Sometimes we text it to each other ... and keep each other accountable for our attitudes throughout the day. When we were tempted to be frustrated at the airport in Atlanta (with the Delta delays), we reminded ourselves that in the span of eternity, waiting and being a couple of hours late wasn't that bad and we would survive. :) Because in the span of eternity, all that really matters is loving each other, loving Christ and sharing the love that He gives with those around us, and passionately pursuing Him - while avoiding the distractions that, in the span of eternity, really are that small.

Wuv, twu wuv ...

So I think some of my all-time favorite love quotes come from movies. Some are sweet, some are deep, most are comical ... but they speak so accurately to most any situation. I love all the one liners in Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally and all the classics. I was flipping through the channels and saw a movie I hadn't seen in a very long time - First Knight. So I turned it on for "background noise" while I worked on some edits and writing. But one quote caught my attention; so I rewound it to hear it again (and froze the TV in the process - broken DVRs are the best - but it was totally worth it). King Arthur (Sean Connery) and Lancelot (Richard Gere) were having a conversation after Lancelot has performed a great feat:

King Arthur: You care nothing for yourself. No wealth, no home, no goal, just the passionate spirit that drives you on.God uses people like you.Because your heart is open, you give all of yourself.

Lancelot: If you knew me better, you wouldn't say such things. 

King Arthur: I take the good with the bad. I can't love people in slices.

Later in the movie this would be put to the test, but it really got me thinking. Often we find people who, from their actions, appear to be totally worthy of love and all good things; just as often, we might find someone who is in a foul mood or is always angry and feel that they aren't as deserving of love and have "something else coming to them." But there are numerous examples in the Bible of what happens when people are quick to judge, in addition to Scriptures cautioning about doing that very thing. I've thought on more than one occasion that the only reason the Bible would repeat that warning/caution/admonition is because clearly it's going to be something we will struggle with - on a frequent basis.

So when it comes down to it, if we made a statement like King Arthur "I take the good with the bad; I can't love people in slices," how accurate would that be? Is that something we are truly capable of doing? I would love to say "Absolutely! Yes!!!" But when the time comes that this is actually required of me, wow ... how much harder it seems! But that is the goal that I'm going to begin aiming for ... to love someone wholly - not in slices. To love all of them - not for what they do, or for what I see, but for who they are - and for who they want and desire to be! When someone looks at me, I want them to see past my attitude and see that my true desire is to be happy and joyful and patient and kind and gracious and loving and forgiving and helpful and ... etc. So my new goal is to look deep enough to see the same in others; and in doing so, learn what true love really is and become a more loving - and loved - person because of it!

The weekend ... and beyond!

What a week it's already been!! Things have been going and going and going ... I think our family mascot is an Army of Energizers! :) After our fun and exciting times with Quinn (who FINALLY made it home at 11:30 CST Saturday night ... eek!!!!), we went to Joplin to enjoy a night with some friends from the Dallas area.

Kassie, Kristin and Gabe actually beat us to the ranch, but we went mudding on 4-wheelers for about 2ish hours! We had a BLAST!!

And maybe we got just a LITTLE dirty! ;) But of course, Kassie sports it with style. :)

We had an awesome night/day of 4-wheeling, grilling, smores over open flames (and not candles :) ), and shooting to celebrate Kassie's birthday!!!

 We're so grateful for sweet friends to help celebrate wonderful events in life! And while  we didn't get to sleep under the stars - as we had hoped - we will be planning another trip soon for just that purpose! :)

Yesterday, around 1p, Cain called and said that a high school sports banquet in Graham was dropped in the Weatherford Recruiting Station's lap, so I needed to bring him his uniform. I ended up going with him and SSG Garrett as they presented the Graham High School football team with Team of the Year. They actually got to present it to Coach McCoy (Colt McCoy's dad; he was the Graham football coach until he retired earlier this year) which was really exciting!

Cain's been doing a great job with recruiting and even though he's staying busy, he's changing lives - and he loves that aspect of it! :) So that's a quick update in the lives of the Schulers! :)

Random surprises are the best!

So I've been intending to - and trying to - update this blog ... and I have several drafts ... but inevitably it seems I get called away in the middle of it and then, well ... life happens! :)

We've been staying BUSY - with work, with friends, and with all the things that make life ... life! Cain's been working longer hours than normal, but has been doing a great job and has some awesome "future soldiers" under him! And we keep praying more good recruits in - so we know that they're coming! :) I've been staying busy with WallBuilders and will hopefully be pitching in with our friend LTC (Ret.) Brian Birdwell's campaign for state senate; he's in the runoff and we know he will do a GREAT job as a state senator - so we're doing what we can to help make sure that he gets there!

Earlier tonight (or rather, last night :) ), I was thinking that while things had been super busy, there hadn't been anything random that had happened lately - which was pretty rare for us (well, at least me!). And everyone knows the rule is that as soon as you think that, something will happen. And it did! :)

Around 11:30ish pm, Cain's phone rang ... and he was sound asleep. Since I was still awake :) , I  reached over for it and saw that it was Quinn (Cain's twin sister)! I answered ... and it disconnected. So I called her back and got the shock of my life when she said she was in Dallas and asked how far away we lived. Before I could say anything about her not calling to tell us she was going to be in town, she quickly explained that she wasn't even supposed to be here, but her flight home to Tucson had been diverted (I know there's a lesson in there about being being quick to listen, slow to speak ... but that's for a later post :) ). She said she was going to just stay at a hotel over there ... and I quickly explained that she was not and that I was on my way to get her! After my unsuccessful attempts to wake Cain (have I mentioned he's been busy??? and is really tired???), I headed to the airport! :) We're now back home and are caught up on the joys of Army life and the life of a reporter ... and are wishing that Continental would let her catch up on real life by  answering their phone ... but apparently they were getting too many calls ... so they aren't answering any. That's always a good solution ... I think they picked it up from the government ... or vice versa ... :) When we got home, Cain woke up - and had the biggest shock he's had in quite a while (we're pretty sure he thought he was dreaming at first).

(Maybe it's clear that this isn't from 2am, but I  like it nonethenless :) )

Now I think it's time to catch some quick shut-eye before heading back to the airport, then to Joplin for some possible mudding and celebrating a dear friend's birthday!!! But I'm grateful for random surprises that are of the BEST kind and we're glad Quinn came for a visit - even if she wasn't planning on it! :)