Seven Years & Seven Lessons

Jeff and I celebrated seven years of marriage on October 1st. I love this picture of us. Just love it. My girlfriend who took the pics gave me the CD's a few years back and.... well, I've misplaced them somewhere. They are there, I know it. Somewhere buried in something. But I need to find them soon because I need to get this bad boy printed and up on a wall. Plus I need to store the digitals before CD technology is a thing of the past (we are almost there).

We celebrated by getting out of the house! I know seven isn't as special as the 5's, 10's, 25's and so on, but we needed a night away. I was too late on the B&B's so I thought it would be fun to schedule something downtown. I love the Riverwalk. It's so....so.... European for lack of a better word. At least in looks. What a fantastic concept - score one San Antonio on the rest of the US.

I wanted to splurge just a bit. I mean, why not? (Hush up, Practical Colleen) I always wish I would stay at nice places and then always cheap out and stay at a Holiday Inn or something, but not this time. This time, I said, nice or nothing. So I booked a suite at the Hotel Contessa. The hotel is gorgeous, modern, but not too modern where I'm sleeping on a mattress on the floor with one painting on a white washed wall.  You know what I mean.

We were wishy-washy on restaurants and ended up with no reservations. So we went to eat at a local restaurant, Paesano's, and then afterwards just walked down the Riverwalk, enjoying the view. It was a great little anniversary celebration. Now to repeat next year!

In honor of our seven years, I wanted to offer Seven Things I've Learned since being married (particularly to Jeff). Please enjoy.

1. I will never be on time again. As much as I try, I have come to the realization that we will never be on time. Ever. I love Jeff, Jeff is not good with time (and he knows I know that). I am overly concerned with it. He wins. Every time. He refuses to be rushed. I'm still working on accepting this. Afterall, isn't marriage about compromise? 
2. The little things still count. Flowers, date nights, a break from cooking. They still matter and make me happy all these years later. 
3. Life gets more complicated, but you make it work. Mortgages, Bills, Babies, Jobs, it comes with the territory and it all comes with hiccups and headaches. But somehow you make it work. 
4. I loved him then, but I love him more now. Self-explanatory.
5. No one can handle my crazy like he can.  Again, pretty self-explanatory.
6. Kids are bonus. At least for us. We talked about this the other night. We are in agreement kids aren't for everyone. But we are also in agreement that kids are a bonus to a relationship. And we are in agreement that you need to keep some special time for just the two of you as well. Otherwise, you're all going down the crazy road together.
7. We compliment each other well. Jeff is go with the flow. I am neurotic and high strung. I need chill in a husband. Imagine a male version of me? I know, it would be a terrible combination. I'd easily have been divorced by now. Ying/Yang, opposites attract. It's not a saying for nothing.

Happy Birthday, Rebecca Jo!

Rebecca Jo Vahalik Schwencke (far left)

Today is my grandmother's 85th birthday. She is my last living grandparent. It's hard typing that out... She lives in a nursing home here in town, suffering from extreme dementia. I haven't seen her in a long time and she only lives about 20-25 minutes from my house. I need to fix that. I keep saying I'll go visit her and I make an excuse every time. She doesn't know me anymore. She definitely doesn't know my daughter. But that shouldn't matter. I should be spending time with her as an homage to the incredible legacy she has made. Four children. Nine grandchildren. Five great-grandchildren. That's pretty damn impressive. The thought of having four children gives me the shivers.

I wish nursing homes were less depressing. I wish someone would pioneer better care facilities. I wish I had more patience with older people. Afterall, I hope to live to a ripe old age as well.

My mother is a saint for all that she has done for her parents.

I have grand memories of Grandma growing up. There house in Canyon Lake, countless sick days spent watching movies at her house, Easters, Christmases, Thanksgivings, poppy seed kolaches, pride in my Czech heritage, and their house on El Verde Rd.

Happy Birthday, Grandma. You have given me some of the best memories of my lifetime.

E-Rock - Rite of Passage

The Labor Day options were Sea World or chill. So naturally we didn't choose any of those. Duh.

Instead, we took KT to Enchanted Rock today for her first trip and her rite of passage as 50% Forsythe. Jeff and I had also not been in an embarrassingly long time, so it was a necessary remedy.

I have such fond memories of E-Rock from when I was a kid. We went there a LOT. We camped as a family, with the Boy Scouts, and several day trips in between. Such good memories are only natural to share with ones kiddos. The camping/hiking experience is something I definitely want to pass on.

Regardless of the fact that we live 2 miles from a State Park (shame on us), we haven't been hiking in awhile. Our last adventure was at Lost Maples when KT was only 10 months old. I should have known then that she was a natural - we had such an easy time of it!

Today was no different. I swear the girl climbed up more than 1/2 the face of that rock by herself - "I do it myself" she says. With about 15 stops to "wipe my boogies" (she has a cold, okay?). But man, she impressed us. Big time. I should get used to this fact, but I hardly ever do!

I took about 500 photos - naturally. If you follow me on flickr (KCKoenig) you can see the full set, but I wanted to share some of the awesomeness here!

Here's to many more state park visits, including overnight camping and hiking!

Obligatory photo with the entry sign

On the self-dubbed "noodle trail" - she called the railroad ties "noodles"

Landscape 

I think this one is called Turkey Peak - don't quote me

"I do it myself"

love this shot - she'll kill me later

Navigating the steep slopes. Don't worry. Jeff and I were very close just in case 

Forging ahead with Daddy

Enjoying the view from the top!

Going down, she had had enough. Piggy back rides!

Cuteness. Getting so good and smiling for the cam!

Dry wildflowers

Obligatory shot of the summit sign.

Just Hangin' Around

Should I start this post by blatantly ignoring the fact that it's been well over three months since my last entry, or should I address it, state the obvious and move forward from here. I'm turning into such a broken record by apologizing before every entry. Wait? Haven't I said that already too? Screw it. Let's continue.

Oh life, you fickle beast you. You've thrown me up, thrown me down, shot me out like a boomerang and I've made my way back into, what I will momentarily call, control (duck!). What am I up to you ask? Oh, right, right, right. I'm no longer the star attraction here, let's be honest with ourselves. I suppose you want a KT update? Well I'll make you suffer first. Plus I have to give my readers (pray, tell, what are those?) some filler before I get to the punchline, after all. It's only fair. 

Jeff and I you ask? Too kind, too kind of you. We've been staying very busy. In the past three months we have changed jobs (well just me), gone on vacation bought a new car (Jeff), lost 10 lbs, gained 2 of them back, escorted KT to and from school, escorted KT to and from Mimi's Summer Day Camp, Sea World outings, family outings, friend outings, family visits from Florida peeps, a new laptop, some photography, some relaxation, and whole lot more that I've forgotten about at this point. 

Now, on to the good stuff. This face:

That's what you're really here for anyway, right?

KT has grown so much this summer. Both physically and mentally. Back in April/May we were having a lot of problems with her biting classmates. Friends kids? nope. Us? uh-uh. Random Strangers? negative. Kids at Class Only? Bingo. And I'm sure you're thinking, Oh, there must be something at her school that's bothering her. Well, you may be partially right. I think the number one reason she was having so many issues is because she couldn't find the best way to communicate. So she went with her gut reaction. And that was to take a chomp out of the first kid that crossed her path. Literally. Sometimes completely unmotivated. Trust me, I observed it. It was quite the frustrating experience because how do you tell your 2 year old not to do something that you've never seen them do but you know they are doing but only doing in class. Wait, what? Exactly! Anyway, we came *this* close (imagine tiny space between thumb and pointer) to getting the boot from her daycare. That's right, KTK, you almost got EXPELLED! That's going in your baby book. Well, if you had one that is. That's a WHOLE other productivity issue in itself - let's just say I'm working on it!

Back to the point. Drastic times called for drastic measures, or maybe I'm drastically over dramatizing. Nevertheless, the daycare really worked with us and we agreed that the best solution was to downgrade for the summer. Two days at school. Hrm, 2 days, but what about the other three you ask? 

Stage Right, Enter Mimi.

Thank God (no seriously, Thank You, God) that my mother is retired. How many times have I said that aloud, in my head, and anticipate saying it in the future. Serious lifeline here, people. If you don't have a retired mother, go forth and get one. They are very resourceful. Ring a ling ling. Hello, Mom. We need some help. Of course there was acceptance on the other side, I mean, please reference above pic, how can anyone say no to that face. Seriously, try it. It's hard. So, Mimi's Summer Day Camp, as it is affectionately been dubbed opened in June. And ran for 10 weeks. Bugs, Dinosaurs, Library visits EVERY WEEK (heaven!), animals, gardening, chickens, guineas (um, shortlived, literally), movies, donkey rides (of the mechanical nature). You name it, she experienced it! And, as much as I am bummed, these experiences didn't happen with me, I give thanks that my kid got to be a kid this summer and spend quality time outdoors. 

The timing could not have been more perfect. KT's communication improved 10-fold over the course of the summer. She is literally chattering up a storm. All. The. Time. Yes, yes (insert Colleen talking all the time joke here) - I could hardly guess you'd say something! 

She's also, dare I say it, potty trained!!! Completely. Of course, we still have the occasional accident when we are playing too hard and forget to think about things. But man, after our first attempt back in March, I was fearful on how things would play out in this realm. But, gradual potty training really worked for us. Of course I bribed her with candy. Look, I don't need your judgement. I already judge myself 10x over for these decisions. But, miracle of miracles, bribery worked well for us. Also, allowing her to decide that she needed to go. And always, always, always, even if you 100% KNEW it was going to amount to nothing encourage and follow through with potty time. Sometimes we sat there for 20 minutes just waiting. Take a book in there (for both of you). Just sayin'. But we made it through, with relative ease. 

And so now, we reflect upon our summer with bittersweet memories. Sweet in that we have been blessed in so many ways this summer. Our entire family. And bitter in that, it signifies our little girl is growing, growing, growing and there really is no way to slow down time. Le sigh. 

You can find me wearing white paints and sandals and drinking lemonade every day until Labor Day so I can desperately hang on to what's left of this fabulous summer.

OCD about Photography

I am OCD about many things. So this post will have to narrow the list down a bit. Specifically, one of my many neurotic fixations focuses on my photography organization. Maybe I'm not as OCD as I think I am because a person who is mental about this issue wouldn't stop till their system was perfect. Mine is not perfect. But it's getting there.

Since KT's birth, I have been meticulous on organizing her photos based off of her age. The system has been refined ten times over and is still going through final edits. I upload everything to my Flickr site for back up and easy sharing, and even lately I've had to file those photos differently. Tagging and Labeling. I'm trying!!!

The digital age is so....exhausting for lack of a better word.

And if your photography, that's coming from 3 digital photos and 2 iphones wasn't enough, factor in all the other photos of your kid from OTHER people's photo sharing sites and you have a huge frickin' mess on your hands.

Had to vent.

Gwyneth Gloria Queer (1926 - 2012)

One of the last photos I took of her. November 2011.

My Granny passed away last month. It was expected, but yet, not. Another victim of dementia in my family. That makes 3 now. I only have on grandparent left. If that doesn't bring things in to perspective, I don't know what will.

I spent several summers in Florida with Granny and Pap.  The took me, JR and my other cousins on numerous trips to Disney World and countless trips to the beach in Vero. I have strong memories of her. Memories I hope I'll hold on to throughout my lifetime.

I'll miss her. Rest in peace, Granny.

February 1, 1926 - April 2, 2012

Here's the obituary from the local paper:

Gwyneth Queer

Vero Beach

Gwyneth G. Queer, 86, died April 2, 2012, at VNA/Hospice House in Vero Beach. She was born in Elizabeth, Pa. and lived in Florida since the late 1950s.

She worked in data entry for a local fruit company.

Survivors include her daughters, Susan E. Forsythe and Cynthia L. Horner, both of Vero Beach; sons, John T. Forsythe of San Antonio, and Robert A. Forsythe of Vero Beach; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her husband, John A. Queer; two brothers and two sisters.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, 3375 20th St., Suite 100, Vero Beach, FL 32960.

Services: Services will be private. Arrangements are by Thomas S. Lowther Funeral Home and Crematory in Vero Beach. A guest-book is available at www.lowtherfuneral.com

There Are Many Reasons

There are many reasons that I miss living in the country. This is one of them:

Harvesting Green Beans with Mimi. Check out how many!

This bean won LARGEST bean of them all.

Dropping them in the bucket to take home!

I want KT to know what it's like to be a country girl. This weekend she helped grumps find bugs to feed to the chickies, rode on the donkey (atv), went to see the horses (neighbors), fed the deer, picked green beans in the garden, played on the porch and ran through the field.

I see no better advertisement to move back to the country than that. 

A Blog About Wishing I Would Blog

I love coming across random blogs. People who so freely give access to their personal online journals. It's like an awesome book with interesting characters.

 

I giggle. I laugh. I comment on their wittiness. And I always say, huh, I wish I could write like that. I wish I could keep a constant flow of posts. I've got useless, but interesting, crap to talk about. Always. Why can't I just keep up with this thing.

 

Oh, life, you fickle thing you.

 

My days are non-stop from sunup to sundown. Weekends are packed with activities to keep a 2 year old entertained. And in the spring? Hello? Activity heaven.

I've got this list in front of me at home. You know, the REMINDER list. Read.

• Don't forget to buy So and So wedding gift.
• Don't forget to buy So and So baby gift.
• Edit Pics.
• Upload Pics.
• Pin on Pinterest.
• Update your blog.
• Buy a Book. (*avoid reminder list*)
• Do something with all those pins on Pinterest.
• Pin the current book you are "supposed" to be reading to your Pinterest Board
• Remind Yourself Read the Book you Bought. 
• Edit down Pinterest boards so they are more functional/manageable. (*and so you don't feel so guilty that you haven't done much with them*)
• Read your personal email.
• Clean out your personal email.
• Clean out your OTHER personal email.
• Respond to/Clean up Facebook Messages (otherwise known as EMAIL). 
• Hey, there, don't forget to update your blog. 
• Build a photo book (this one has been on this list for well over a year).
• Buy an iPhone Case.
• Buy a Bathing Suit.
• Lose Some Weight.
• Pay the Bills.
• Balance the Budget. (*insert meltdown here*)
• Previous Book is Boring, Buy new Book.
• Edit Pics.
• Upload Pics.
• Remember your blog?
• Set some Goals.
• Meet one of the Goals.
• Make a list of Goals.
• Then Add to your Reminder List to reference your goal list (*insert head explosion*)
• Buy an iPhone Case. (last one broke)
• Do a blog post.

......
......
..... and it goes on and on.

Now duplicate this list and add work related items on it and that's what I face every day when I go into work.

Is it self defeating to make these lists? I'm all ears.

Easter 2012

The Wonderful Thing About Schwencke's
Is Schwencke's are Wonderful Things!

Happy Easter 2012

And one from the Forsythe's (sans Ash :( )

Godzilla

This guy is the best husband, best father and best uncle ever.

I just love him.

Total Boy

Got to shoot this cute guy yesterday:

Domesticated

I've been beat up lately by the blance of life. I swear that last week I ate out for probably 12 of the 15 meals from Monday to Tuesday.

I had missed the grocery store the weekend before since we were out of town visiting. But missing the grocery store can only lead to one thing, TROUBLE.

So yeah, I spent the evenings staring mindlessly into the fridge wondering how I was going to make the three packets of strawberry applesauce, the stick of mozzerella cheese and the package of bowtie pasta fit into some sort of nutritionally valuable meal. You see my dilemma. It was easier to call something in.

All the while, the big elephant (read: Crock Pot) in the room sat atop my fridge staring down it's nose at me.

About two months ago, I was committed to Crock Pot cooking. Three times a week, three delicious meals, three satisfied family members and sometimes three rounds of leftovers (if we were lucky). It was easy. And I was happy.

Opening the front door upon my arrival home and having the aroma drifting through the air carrying the sweet song "Welcome Home, Honey" "Put Your Feet Up and Relax, Honey, Dinner is DONE, Honey" "What's to Eat? Why Me, Honey. This Fully Cooked Meal" was music to my ears.

But it takes planning on the weekends and some small to moderate prep the evening before. Did I mention my crazy job a few weeks back? Ah right, it was madness. So, planning got dropped. I got stressed. And we were back to square one.

I focused myself this weekend. I planned it out. I consulted some friends. I sent Jeff to the grocery store (good one, huh?) and cue Monday morning "Awww crud! I almost forgot to get dinner started!". Can of soup here, chicken there, milk, cheese, set timer and OUT THE DOOR. Bam. *Blows smoking finger* Dinner is on.

This week I've committed to the following recipes:

Chicken Cordon Bleu (via Saretta) on tonight's menu
Crock Pot Lasagna (via Saretta) I'll bost recipe later if it's a win
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos Tried and true and I love it. Makes a lot and we use for tacos, salads, and soup

I'm pinning everything on my Crock Pot & Meal Planning Board on Pinterest if you want to follow. I'll try to keep a record of my likes/dislikes/failures - Speaking of which, tried a Crock Pot Ravioli recipe on Friday night that failed MISERABLY. Crunchy. Noodles. Need I say more?

If you have any recipe suggestions, I'm all ears!

In the words of the beloved Julia Childs, "Bon Appétit!"

New Tricks

I went back to manual mode on my camera this weekend. I've been shooting in the other program modes for a little too long and "forgot" some basics. Some very cool basics.

Dad and Jeff were playing around with this crossbow that Dad got for $10 off of woot.com - trust me when I say it wasn't even worth $5 - ha! But this lent a good opportunity for me to play around with my fstop settings. Got some pretty neat shots out of it.

Don't worry this wasn't loaded and I actually ASKED him to point it at me

Took this right after he fired - obviously the focus could have been better but I got some great capture of the dust (?) flying off the bow and check out that bokeh in the back. Love that effect. Just need to work on the focus.

I Love This One

Aches and Pains

I've done something to my neck.

Last week it was my back.

And the week before, my legs.

Can I attribute this all to age? Or perhaps lack of mobility these mast few weeks (due to rigid deadlines and harsh working hours)? Or can I, let's face it, blame it on stress? See previous two reasons.

Last night I lounged on an ice pack for 2 hours straight. I got up to check on something only to realize the ice pack had soaked through my shirt and part of the couch, but that I couldn't feel it because the chill had completely numbed my entire upper back. The trade off? The pain was gone.

The *almost* immediate realization after I had been off the ice pack for 5 minutes? The pain had returned.

When I stress, I stress full body, so it seems. Internal? Blood pressure. External? Apparently a complete muscle seizure.

Is this normal? The pain was so intense last night it left me physically sick to my stomach, which doesn't happen often.

I think the Japanese have it right and this is how we need to start our mornings. Afterall, if some people can take smoke breaks, this is only fair. Am I right?

Dear Daughter

I'm going to start this letter with a future apology. I can not promise that I will keep this letter writing business up. Things get hectic, my stress level gets high, things have to balance, and things have to take a back seat.

But I can try. And I promise I'll do that.

So, let's begin again.

Dear Daughter,

You're two. Scratch that. You're two and one month. Twenty-five months, to those mothers who are weird about things and can't put their childs age in years. It's not making them sound younger, people.

You are two, but you are also six, and on certain days eight, and then sometimes the attitude is closer to sixteen. You laugh, and shout, and sing and cry and whine. But best of all, you joke. Boy do you know how to joke. I am floored by your sense of humor. You're jokes are beyond your years in so many ways. Your timing is impeccable, you know just when to capture your audience and for how long to drag it out. Often times I forget to laugh, as I stand there frozen with my jaw dropped to the ground in complete amazement.

I am so proud of you. For that. But for many other reasons too. Forewarning: I'm going to tell you endless amounts of times how proud I am of you over the rest of your life. And you'll nod your head and say "Thanks, Mom." and roll your eyes both literally and many times figuratively. And I'll lick your my finger and straighten your hair, and you'll brush me off. Thinking it's not such a big deal. Until you have a daughter of your own one day. And then you'll know exactly what I meant. Much like I know exactly what my mother meant. Except the hair straightening part, I'll try to contain that.

So here it is again, KTK. I am SO proud of you. You have such personality. BIG personality. You've got brains and attitude, and you're really starting to blossom into .... well, YOU. It's such an amazing thing to watch. I'd say from the sidelines, but I am an active participant.

You're teacher calls you "Loquita" - translation: Little Crazy One. But it's true. And it's a compliment. When we call you Loquita at home, your face squishes up and your eyes narrow and you shake your head like "No way, I'm not crazy" and then you giggle, as if proving that denial false right away.

Very often we play the "Oh no! Where's my hand?" game when we are in the car or the bath tub or chilling. Point is, we play it a lot. You hide Olivia behind your head as if she becomes invisible to everyone, except you. And we roll with it, because your enthusiasm is too awesome not to.

You've become fearless in play, opting for the big girl swing instead of your blue "bucket". And you lean back on the swing with your face to the sky and I could watch you all day like that. Smiling. Both of us.

And even when you make the occasional wrong decision, almost always having to do with the fact that you choose not to listen to us, you have the best disposition. Tearful and apologetic, you give hugs and kisses, and "yes, mama"s and "sorry, daddy"s. And then it's 0 to 60 back to awesome.

In short, you amaze me. Every day. Even on the days we don't get to spend much time together.

Never stop. I have a feeling you won't.

Love, Mama

Orbiting

I'm not sure if there is anyone still out there or not.... I feel as if I've been orbiting alone in space and just now trying to regain contact with the normal world. At least, that of the blog world. If you're out there, let me here you. *tap, tap*

If not, I'll continue recording just in case they find me one day and wonder what became of me.

I've been in the mood to write lately. Like, desparately needing to write. I've had a lot I've needed to get off my chest and haven't always felt like the blog has been the best place for it. So I bought a journal. Technically, Jeff bought me a journal, because I added it to the shopping list.

At night, I write in it. But only if I'm in the mood. I've scribbled pages and pages of my neurotic thoughts on there, one by one, and reread them over and over. And it's worked. I feel better, less stressed somehow. Often times, I share them with Jeff. Sometimes, I don't. It depends on my mood, and he's super supportive of that.

But I wanted to get back in to the blog world too, because I miss it. I enjoy writing in general, so this is my chance to continue something I love. My grammar may be lacking, I probably have run on sentences. But I don't care, because you get the message anyway.

I also may provide pictures, in which they may or may not be edited. But sometimes, I may just write to write. And not provide pictures. So get over it. Well, get over it IF you have an issue with it.

Something I've chosen to work on about myself is that the stars don't have to be perfectly aligned to make things happen. You can shift them later. It's my biggest crippler and something that's kept me from pursuing some of my passions. No more, I say.

Choose to read or choose not to read. I'll continue to write.

The Good Ones

Here are some of the pics that turned out great :)

Attitude

I finally got in a photo shoot with KT. I can't tell you how long it has been. But I needed to do this before her 2nd birthday, mainly because I needed a decent pic for her Bday invites, and I don't think the screaming Santa pic would do the trick.

I actually got 2 photo shoots in today. Earlier in the day I went out to my parents place, because I thought to take some great pics in the fields. But by the time I got out there, the sun was so high, it was casting all kind of crazy shadows. Oh yeah, and I forgot my camera. I borrowed M&D's and got some okay pics of her, but I think the shadows were messing with me when I sat down to edit.

So I did another round this afternoon once Jeff got home and once KT had a nap (very important element for peeps photographing toddlers. Nap = Essential. Write that down.) Anyway, we just went up to the elementary school right across the street from our house. There is some great trees and wooded area right next to it that is ideal for photography!

I'm saving the good pics till after I send out her invites (this week!), but here are some pics of what it's like to deal with a 2 year old during a photo shoot. Enjoy.

What, Mama!?

Bless You (sneezing)

Tongue!

More Tongue!

Hey Look! She's sticking out her tongue!

Okay one good one :)