is it O-Ten yet?

Sometimes its the whole picture that should be looked at.
I want to thank my family for being so great.

All sides included.

Schaeperkoetter's, Hope's, Rothlisbergers', Thomas', Smith's.

For those of you keeping score at home, this may be my third entry. Although my intentions are good, they don't always get executed very precisely. 2009 is finally behind us. lets all take a moment and think about that. i have been so focused on looking forward, that i don't want to look back. i find myself doing it so much lately that the days fly by without notice. i am guilty of ignoring the present. forgetting the past. chasing the future. is my biggest downfall looking ahead? i want to adjust all three. a wise man once said "resolutions are for squares." well if i had four sides. those would be mine. learn from mistakes. enjoy the present. plan the future.

thats enough of that.

does anyone hear the tree fall if there is no one in the forest?

chicken? egg?

yes-no-maybe

i hope for great things this year. i may not have all the answers.

i just hope to ask the right questions.

.:and it’s october first. happy fall.:.

a lot has been going on in dave and my life… hence the lack of blogging. i’ve been more preoccupied at work with the legal paperwork of dave’s divorce and finding a place for us to live. oh yeah, and work. i occasionally was able to find time at work to jot down a quick blog or two… but not so much lately.

change is on the horizon. i can feel it.

dave’s divorce is just about wrapped up. we are literally sitting on pins and needles. really! i put thumb tacks on my chair at work. okay- just kidding. but we are awaiting the news that the judge has signed the final papers that were agreed upon earlier this week. we sat through mediation last week- what an experience. and one that i intend to never participate in again. i would like to personally thank our great family friend Michele who was a saving grace at a time when we felt helpless. she helped to make an amazing amount happen. thanks also to my momma for hosting a dinner so we could all chat.

and… dave’s house is on the market! i’m sure this is the first many of you are hearing of this… well, ta-da! dave’s friend toril is the real estate agent we’re using. she came to the house this morning; took pictures, put a lock box on the door and will come by again to put a sign out front. and just like that our dream to get out of this house is real. i’m not sure i can quite explain how exciting this is for us… it’s fairly private and fairly obvious i think all at the same time.

i’ve got a spot of a sore throat that is going up the right side of my neck up into my ear. ouch. drinking tea, drafting a blog should make it feel better.

we have the girls tonight and this weekend. i feel like we haven’t seen them in a looooong time. i’ve loved the summer with them and everything we’ve done, but i’m also excited for what fall weather brings… candles, cuddling, holiday music and scents. *mmmm*especially the crafts that come along with fall weather too!

OH! MY! GOODNESS! how and why did it take me this long to bring up this news?! we got a dog! she’s a sweet yorkshire terrier. we picked her up when she was 9 weeks old. her birthday is the day before the 4th of July… and her name is Olive. she’s our little olive pit. i had hopes of picking out a boy so dave wouldn’t be so outnumbered, but no such luck. she’s the one I fell in love with. i rescued her from an organization called under-dawgz rescue… it is amazing what these people do. dave came up with her name… for a couple of reasons. 1. i love a good dirty martini 2. ella adores olives 3. dave’s dad’s name was Clive and his signature often looked like “Olive!” i think kelli, his sister, has a note or paper with his signature on it and i’m anxious to see it sometime. so, that’s how little miss olive came to be called olive. makes me teary-eyed thinking about it.

i’m starting to feel a bit crafty again… i’m continuing to alter my clothes to funk-a-fy them, and pick up darling things at the thrift store for the girls to add a bit of a flare to their wardrobe. ella now has an adorable pink, off-the-shoulder Flashdance-esque sweatshirt. totally dance-able. my aunt let me borrow a craft magazine from last summer that has these cute fleurettes that you can appliqué right onto throw pillows- or really whatever you want! i’m excited to give some of those things a go.

i think this is about it. for now at least.

actually- our great friend’s justin and sara are getting married! we received their wedding invitation and feel so blessed to be a part of this wonderful day for them. our lives are fortunately and unfortunately parallel in many ways… they know what i mean.

i have a great support at work- her name is jenny. i was feeling extra scattered earlier this week and she sent me the below… i wanted to share it here because it’s something i now read everyday.

“Dear God- may the burdens on this woman’s heart be lifted to your care. I sincerely pray that she is reminded that you never intended for her to carry these burdens alone, but to share them with you.
As she walks through today with a scattered feeling in her head, I ask that you make a clear path for her. I pray that her eyes are open to your Light and as her mind calms, her ears are clear to your Word and as she feels the burden lift there is a lightness to her body that helps her move through this day. Not just to get through it, but to be present in it, released from doubts, insecurities, pride or any other workings of evil. She has endured so much in the past few months and has been under attack. May she be filled with Faith, Hope and Love and be reminded that these are gifts that come from you, God- even when we experience them through the actions of other people, they are still from You. Lord, I ask that you bless my sister, Kristine.
In the loving name of Christ, my savior, Amen.”

now, yes, i think that’s it for now.

xo

.:busy summer:.

so, we've been a bit busy lately. we apologize for not blogging- we're taking a short nap.

.:sad attempt:.

i tried to write a blog, however it was turning out to be far too much of a diary entry, so here i am wishing everyone well… wishing happy early birthday’s to dave’s sister kelli and my momma!

we have the girls this weekend, so i’m sure i’ll have much more to blog about.

until then, cheerio.

.:diary of sorts:.

so i’ve tried to keep the blogs i write away from a sort of diary entry… and more so like an update or a newsflash, however today i’m feeling the need to just talk it out. bear with me as my diary entries tend to be scattered and often broken as my mind jumps from here to way over there.

we had a meeting this morning at work with our 401k account representative on the overall status of the markets and our money. i find myself terribly overwhelmed with the task of keeping myself and now dave and the girls financially afloat on a day to day basis without having to think about saving for my retirement years now.

this meeting was coupled with a time in my life where i am feeling like life flies by in the blink of an eye… maybe some of you reading are thinking to yourselves “ha! she’s only 24!”- well i’m feeling it, folks.

too much time goes by between visits with loved ones far and near… but there just isn’t enough time or gas money in one day. there also isn’t enough time to have sufficient quiet, down, and alone time while wanting to complete all the other visits, adventures and tasks necessary and desired in life.

how do i find this balance? listen to my core? take alone time when i need it and visit family when available?

let me pause for just a minute… i am absolutely NOT complaining about my life. i am absolutely ecstatic to be alive and to be where i am. i believe i am just learning about how to have a real relationship with a real man, how to be a caregiver/nurturer/confidant/role model/provider (amongst other things) to my precious princesses, how to own and care for a home while still doing my best to meet the needs and desires of both schaeperkoetter and hope families.

sometimes it really doesn’t feel like there is enough time for everything… and so much which we want to complete. schooling, career growth, financial security, vacations, a new home, a bigger car… aye ye ye!

this really was intended to be a positive post! i am happy! i want to do so many things for my family and your family- i’m just finding the time for it all.


…maybe i’ll stick to updates and newsflashes.

.:that’s a wrap:.

we had another fun thursday with the girls. dave and i found a new spot on the green river that is really rad. it’s a bit steep to get down to, but the girls were amazing- well ella was dead asleep in my arms, so my trusty flip flops and dave’s hand helped us down… but nonetheless they were troopers. ella slept the whole time in the 90 degree weather, drenching my dress and the whole side of her head. bless her heart she was very hot, but too tired to care. lily, chloe and dave dug chloe and lily into the ground and got sand everywhere. dave found his goggles before we left and he and the big girls went scouting. they actually found a shopping cart at the bottom of the river! we tried to talk dave into pulling it out, but i guess it was really stuck and the currant was pretty strong. so best he didn’t do it.

we changed the girls at the beach (that was fun!) and carted them off to their mom’s. both lily and ella had a hard time saying bye. it’s bittersweet really, it’s nice to feel loved, but it’s tears us up seeing them sad. we remind them they can call us anytime… and we drive off.

dave and i have another event filled weekend. his mother’s side of the family is having their family reunion this weekend. many of dave’s family members he hasn’t seen in years… and i mean years. i think he’s very excited to reconnect and to have me meet a lot of people that i won’t have another chance soon to meet. so we’re headed over the mountains this afternoon to meet up with his sister and her family for tonight and then the rest of the family will start trickling in tomorrow morning. we will maybe stay the night saturday or come home in the evening. my older brother is also in town this weekend from la! hooray for family! dave and i would also like to float the river on sunday, wrapping up our weekend at my ma’s for dinner. should be busy… should be fun.

hope all is well… love to you and yours.

happy sunshine.

xokb

no pictures from last night, but here's one to keep you smiling.

.:just another manic monday:.

it sure has been awhile since we wrote anything… life has been busy and then slow… and then busy again.

dave and i continue to work on the house, making it our own. we recently did our bathroom. we painted, hung up a towel rod and two hooks. we had a shelf in there before that was better suited for books and knick knacks, not bathroom toiletries. we will have to re-mud and then texture our bedroom walls before we can paint, so that one is a little far off. the girls are anxious to have their rooms painted… ella and chloe’s room is a bright, off green color right now and lily’s room is blue swirls with bugs?! i’m still not sure the thought process behind the past decorating, but nonetheless dave and i have very similar tastes and we’ll have these walls sorted out in no time.

we had the girls this last weekend. and for once we pretty much cleared the schedule and didn’t do a planned thing. we hung out with the cox’ on friday night so dave could install/hook up their cable. saturday was such a beautiful day we headed down to the river where we played all day. i made a big batch of what the girls now call ‘kristi special’ which is just a basic tuna pasta salad- but they seem to love it (and i’m okay with the name!). we filled up all our water bottles and grabbed our beach towels and didn’t return home until dinner time. no sun burns, sand everywhere, and tired girls. sunday was another lazy day. we were told that lily had baseball practice and since we don’t have the schedule and/or coach’s info like we’ve requested we were left standing at a high school baseball field in covington for half hour twirling our thumbs, as no one else showed up. we still haven’t got to the bottom of that mystery. ella crashed on the way home, i changed my clothes to my sunday sweats (as said to the beat of “sunday’s best”), and we just chilled. dave pulled out this old piece of art that he bought at a garage sale a long time ago and we cleaned it up and brought it in the house. it is a picture of mt. rainier and a clock, it’s kind of a shadow box type of frame, except nothing inside, ya know? just a deep frame. i really love it… now if we could only find a C battery to make it work.

we wrapped up the night with a bike ride. dave spent a good portion of saturday patching lily’s tire, his tire and fixing his old bmx that doesn’t have brakes. we all cruised around the neighborhood and felt the wind in our hairs.

dave and i curled up and watched shooter last night… i thought it was alright. dave’s rating jumped from a C- to a B+ and then back to a “ah, I don’t know”. so watch at your own risk, there are mixed reviews.

so now, here we are: monday. a new week. overcast today but supposed to get nicer throughout the week. my older brother gets into town later this week… and dave and i hope to float the river this weekend too. we hope everyone is well… take some time to smell the roses.

kb