Why I'm the Luckiest Woman Alive

Just a forewarning - this post is pretty mushy, and lengthy. It could be because Valentine's Day is around the corner, or that our 2nd anniversary is in March, or maybe it's because I love my husband so incredibly much. Whatever the reason, I felt the need to share this with all of you.

For those that don't know our history, my husband and I met when I was a senior in high school (I was 17) and he was a sophomore in college (he was 19). I was working at Rib Crib, and made a best friend, Jamie. At the time we met, Jeremy's brother was living next door to Jamie. Jamie and I spent a lot of time together, so it was inevitable that Jeremy and I would meet. He came over one night to play pool at Jamie's, and I was thoroughly annoyed with him. I couldn't stand him! He couldn't leave fast enough. As time went on, however, he grew on me. We spent a lot of time together since we were both friends with Jamie. It wasn't long before I grew to like him as more than a friend - but I knew he wasn't looking for a relationship. So, we stayed friends.

I dated a few other guys, and he dated a couple of other girls over the course of the next couple of years. We lost touch a couple of times, but somehow always managed to find each other again. Jeremy was there when I went through a couple of bad relationships, and he saw the struggles I was going through in depth. He was going through struggles of his own - with school. He took a couple of years off to work while he got his priorities straight.

After a particularly bad relationship and break up, Jeremy and I got in contact again. He helped me through a very rough patch with that break up, and that was the first time I really saw how much I cared about him. We spent almost every night together, and most of our days (when I wasn't in class and he wasn't working).

It wasn't long before we were in that limbo of being more than friends, but not considering ourselves in a relationship yet. We talked a lot about our feelings for each other, so there was no doubt in my mind when I brought a bunch of clothes, shoes, and toiletries and took over a closet and the bathroom in his house without asking his permission (he still gives me a hard time about that, but I know he wouldn't have it any other way).

Photo courtesy of David Holbrook

Now that you have a background of our relationship history, maybe this next part won't seem so mushy and newlywed-like.

Sometimes it hits me just how lucky I am to have found my soulmate. Most people go through their whole life and never experience the strength of love we share. I can honestly say he is my best friend, and I often feel like 24 hours a day of being together isn't enough. A lot of people think it's because our relationship is still relatively new, but most don't realize it's the love we feel for each other. We have known each other almost 7 years, in ways other than just being together. And we have been through a lot of trials throughout our relationship - both individually, and as a couple.

Little things make my heart swell with love for my husband, and they are almost always random. Here are some of my favorites that ALWAYS make me feel that way:

1. When our wedding song comes on the radio, or I get the urge to pull it up and listen to it on YouTube.
2. Getting a whiff of amazing smelling cologne. It doesn't have to be his, which is my favorite. Any great smelling cologne makes me think of how it would smell if he wore it.
3. Seeing an older couple walking down the street and holding hands.
4. Reading a book where the main characters describe their love and how deep it runs.
5. Seeing an old picture of us.
6. Cuddling on the couch in our PJs.
7. The way he laughs at a stupid joke I tell, or dance like a fool, or do something incredibly embarrassing.

I could probably name hundreds of other things that make my heart swell with love, but I don't want to bog you down with too much mushy-gushy-ness.

So for all of you who are waiting for that fairy-tale love, know it's out there. It isn't as glamorous as in the movies and books, with expensive gifts and no fights and 24/7 passion, but the feeling is the same. Pure, unconditional love and adoration.

Photo courtesy of David Holbrook

New Year Celebration

We celebrated New Year's 2015 with our usual tradition - spending it with our former neighbors and best friends. We love this tradition, and it  gives us a chance to get together with our friends. Plus, I get to hang out with these two handsome guys:

After work on New Year's Eve, we made the hour trek to their house. It had been a couple of months since we saw everyone, so we were very excited. We unloaded our stuff, and the New Year's celebration began!

I spent some quality time with Laken. Since I hadn't seen him since October, I had to make sure he remembered me. He wasn't sure about me at first, but quickly warmed up.

Since we hadn't seen each other around Christmas, we exchanged our gifts.

After exchanging gifts, Jenn and I did some catching up while the guys watched football. Javen and his cousins played before they left for the evening. I got some cute pictures of Laken while we were keeping him entertained before Grandma swept him away so we could have fun, just adults.

Once Grandma took Laken and Javen went to his cousin's house, we decided it was time for our fun to begin. We played a fun game called "Heads Up". You can't look at the words on the screen, and your teammates have to try to describe it to you so you guess it. The goal is to get all the words in the category you select. We had a blast! I haven't laughed that much in a long time.

I also got a good picture of Jeremy and me!

Jenn and I got some good pictures, too.

And, of course, some funny ones.

We are pretty boring people, and Clay had strep throat, so we didn't stay up long past midnight. We gave our kisses, and went to bed. The next day, we found out the weather was supposed to get bad, so we decided to leave before things got bad. We had already planned on meeting family for lunch at Eskimo Joe's, so we figured we could leave after that. Jenn, Clay, and Laken went with us so our family could meet Laken and visit with Jenn and Clay.

Other than having to leave earlier than expected, we had a great New Year's. We can't wait for all the years to come that we will continue the tradition!

Schwartz Christmas

Schwartz Christmas started in Perry on Christmas Eve day. We had a casual pizza and sandwich lunch and enjoyed spending time with family.

The whole crew

We love getting to see everyone, and being able to spend time with them. We opened our gifts, and spent the day lounging and talking.

That evening, we attended Midnight Mass at St. Joseph's in Bristow. This year, Father Bradley had the children join him in singing various Christmas carols. It was a blast watching the kids get excited.

This year, we decided to spend 5 days in Bristow. Since we were going to be gone so long, Dan agreed to let Beckett and Ellie stay with us so no one would have to check on them at home. Beckett did fine in the car; Ellie cried the whole way there and the whole way back. They did much better than expected at the house. By Sunday, they were willing to brave going upstairs to investigate.

Beckett

Ellie

Christmas Day, Jeremy made pozole (a Mexican soup). Since his family likes things spicy, he added a lot of different peppers, so I didn't eat it. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it, though. Justin came over around lunchtime and we opened gifts. It wasn't long before everyone was playing with their new stuff and was getting distracted from the actual gift opening. Mamaw and Pop also came to visit since they had no plans Christmas Day. Once Justin, Mamaw and Pop all left, we spent the evening playing cards.

The next day, Jeremy and Dan went to work on a few projects around the ranch. Tonya and I visited while we waited to see what they wanted to do for the rest of the day. We decided it would be fun to shoot, especially since Dan got a new gun for Christmas. We set up some explosive targets in the pond bed, and took turns trying to blow them up. It was a blast!

Dan setting up the targets

Tonya's turn

Testing out his Christmas present

When we ran out of targets, we found this poor guy trying to escape the chaos.

With new targets set, we continued our practice.

I was REALLY excited when I blew up one of the targets with the new gun. (Excuse the super nerdy comments at the end)

One of Tonya's gifts was permission to get another indoor cat, with the condition that she got rid of the goose and duck that had become her pets - the goose actually let Tonya pet him. I promised to get plenty of pictures of the goose and duck so she could remember them, only the duck was not so fond of having his picture taken. He ran every time I tried to take his picture.

After shooting, we went to Beach House and got a delicious hamburger and onion rings, and spent the evening playing cards.

The next day, we hung around the house. It snowed, so we weren't willing to go running around. We did run to Wal-Mart to get what we needed for dinner before the snow got too bad.

Glen (Dan's brother) and Tina (his wife) came for dinner. We had Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pot Roast and various sausages from Siegi's Sausage House. We played cards and visited for hours.

We went to church on Sunday, then came back to relax for a while before the trek home. We had so much fun spending time with family, and getting to relax for a while without having to worry about the cats being okay alone at home (really, I'm the only one that worries).

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas as well!