Good News

I would like to be the first to tell you... there might be a possibility that we are moving to Joliet, IL!! Well, it's actually a for sure thing, I just don't have a time frame yet. Steve has a few things in Missouri right now, he will be flying back here (to Vegas) on May 6th for a 2 week training class with IGT (that's who he works for) and then on May 19th we will be officially moving to IL. I am going to be staying with my parents until we figure out our house situtation. We'll probably be moving closer to Joliet, because from Elgin to Joliet, it's about 1.5 hour drive... so I don't know how well Steven Lee will take that. But we'll see. If you know anything about Joliet, please let me know. I've never been there...

One more good thing... WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!!! We reduced the price a little bit (we went higher hopeing that someone would counter at a lower price then we would be where we were at). Well, we reduced the price to what we would have liked and we had a couple with 2 kids come look at it and the next day they put in an offer for full price!! :D I'm so excited!!!

Other than that, not much else to report. I've been busy with work and hanging out with my friends & family here before I leave them all. I have a lot of mixed feelings because I truely love and adore all my family (that's including my friends), but I'm very excited to be closer to my parents, sisters and friends. I can not WAIT to be by you guys again and can hang out!

Can't Wait...

I can't wait for this weekend. Saturday night, some of my friends and I are going to see Dane Cook. I put a link to his website. If you have never heard of him, you should go and listen. He's hilarious... but just a warning... he can be graphic and swears. I just don't want you to be shocked when you hear. He's fricken hysterical though ;)

Let me know if you listen to him!

Long Distance...

Hi Again,
Sorry it's been so long... I have been very busy. Two weekends ago we (Steve's family & I) had a small going away party for Steve. There are pictures below of that event. We had the party on Saturday and he left the following Monday (one week ago today). It was such a fun get together and I wanted to thank everyone that came. Thank you SO much for coming... it meant so much to him.

On Sunday, we went to Red Rock Canyon to go hiking and was there for 5+ hours... it was a blast. Here are a few pictures from that day.

(Can you find Steve?)Monday, Steve, his Mom & I went to Red Robin for lunch and he left shortly after that. He was able to make it to his brother's house by Wednesday night. His brother Jeff lives about 1.5 hours south of where we will be living. He is in Marble Hill and we will be in Saint Charles.

This last weekend Nicci came to visit from CA and we had a AWESOME girls only weekend ;D. We went to the strip (Margaritaville), shopping... lots and lots of shopping, and we layed out in the sun and tried to get tanner (if that is a word).

I'll try to post again soon!
Love, Sara

Updates... Prayer

Well, it's been a pretty long time since I have updated. Here is what's been going on:

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Steve went for an interview in St. Louis, MO. At first I didn't really care for the idea because this was NOT in our plans. But sometime God doesn't really do what you would like and so it seems we are moving to Missouri. Like I said before... I didn't really care for the idea, but I am getting used to it more and more.

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We found Steve an apartment because he is leaving in 2 weeks (which is completly freaking me out because that is REALLY soon). I am excited for him. This will be a good thing because if he completly "hates" his new job than he can quit and we can move to IL like we originally planned ;) Oh, and if you would like to see the apartment we are getting click HERE. We are getting the "Catalina" floor plan. The nice thing about these apartments is, they do month to month... we won't have to sign a lease.

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This last weekend was really busy, one of the things we did was have a garage sale. Well, Steve's sister Amy had a garage sale... we just tagged along and through our stuff in there too :) We made quite a bit of money so that's always a good thing. I have never had one before... it was a LOT of fun!!

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Our house selling is going ok I guess. We have had a few showings, but to be completly honest, Steve's job went so fast, I would be a complete mess if we had someone buying our house on top of Steve moving. If I could have it my way... Steve will be all moved (in MO), hating his new job and then we sell our house... I think... begining of April-ish. That would be perfect! Anywhoo... we are having an open house next weekend, so maybe we'll hear back more then.

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Ok, that is all the posting time I have. I think I have given you all the updates... OH ONE MORE THING.... PLEASE PRAY FOR EMILY... PLEASE DON'T FORGET ABOUT HER!!! She would REALLY, REALLY like to come home, but needs her calcium levels up and stable. To read more about her... Crystal is awesomely good at keeping us up to date, you can click.... HERE!

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Ok, Good night, you Princes of Maine... You Kings of New England!
Sara

Frustration

Why is it so hard?? I love my husband very much... but sometimes I would like to ring his cute little neck. I know that he is trying to get a good job to support us ... I just wish it wasn't in Missouri, where I don't have any family or friends.

I had a whole other blog written, but I was rambeling and it didn't make sense. So this is what it turned out to be.

I'm sorry... I'm just in a bad mood and I'm tired of talking/arguing/fighting/misunderstanding with Steve.

Ok, I'm going to go to bed and hopefully have a more productive/better day tomorrow. Until then...

Please Pray...

I cannot even begin imagine what my friend Crystal, her husband Scott, and their family is going through. Please pray for their daughter Emily who has been diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. I don't know what else to say. If you would like to read more and get updates, please visit Crystal's Blog. Scott just posted the most heartfelt post that is beautifully written and SO sad. I cannot even fathum what they are going through.

Please remember Emily, her parents, her brother Frank & her sister Madison in your prayers.

Updates - Part II

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. We are going to be very busy for the next couple months, so I am apologizing in advance. This last weekend we finished more projects on the house, not quite done, but pretty darn close.

This next weekend coming up, I am going to CA to visit Nicci & Gustavo Grant while, Steven Lee stays home and finishes up our list and watches the dogs ;)


I saw a post on Crystals blog and I wanted to do it too! Here are my answers.

Jobs You've Had In Your Life:
1. My first job: Cinema 12 - Movie Theatre (concession worker)
2. Old Country Buffet
3. The Gap
4. Let's Learn (teachers supply store)
5. First Card/Bank One
6. Station Casinos

Four Movies You Could Watch Over And Over:
1. Where the Heart Is
2. The Notebook
3. Newsies
4. Pretty Woman

Places You've Lived:
1. Dundee, IL
2. Elgin, IL
3. Freeport, IL
4. Carpentersville, IL
5. Las Vegas, NV

TV Shows You Love To Watch:
1. 7th Heaven
2. Related
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Amazing Race
5. One Tree Hill
6. LOST
7. Survivor
8. Reba

Four Places You've Been on Vacation:
1. Wisconsin Dells
2. Missouri
3. Utah
4. Hawaii

Four Blogs You Visit Daily (in no particular order):
1. Crystal's
2. Steph's
3. Kim's
4. Brooke's (although it's been since Christmas)

Four of Your Favorite Foods:
1. Pasta
2. Chocolate
3. Bread
4. Ice Cream

Four Places You'd Rather Be:
1. IL, with my family & friends
2. NV, with my family & friends
3. On the couch, playing hookie from work, while there's a thunderstorm, reading a good book.
4. Always with my husband

Four Albums You Can't Live Without:
1, 2, 3 & 4. All country music

Four Vehicles You've Owned:
1. '69 Trimph
2. '91 Dodge Shadow
3. '94 Toyota Camery
4. '99 Jeep Cheorkee
5. '03 Ford Escape

Ok, I must get to bed. I have another full day for tomorrow (yuck, although I'm going to Trader Joe's, so that makes me happy). I will try to post new blogs, and update comments on your sites as much as possible. I will talk to ya'll later.

Updates

So, I wanted to update you on a few things. First, I wanted to explain why I have not been on so much. We are putting our house up for sale next week, so we have been running around like chickens. Here is what my weekend entailed:
~ Went to Lowes to get more trim pieces.
~ Painted the trim.
~ Went to Home Depot for corner pieces.
~ Painted the corner pieces.
~ Caulked the kitchen sink.
~ Helped Steve carry flooring upstairs to our bathroom so he could start on that.
~ Helped Steve with the toilet. We had to take that out.
~ Put a second coat on the trim & corner pieces.
~ Went to back to Home Depot to get a wax ring for the toilet.
~ Steve then went to H.D. to get a new saw blade... the other one was sparking.
~ Finished putting in the flooring in the bathroom, put the toilet back where it's supposed to go and the wax ring didn't fit... too small.
~ Gave up for the day and went out to dinner. Margaritaville.... mmmm....
~ The following day we did some other stuff, but mainly installed the trim and corner pieces, caulked the trim, put in the tub stripping and after coming home from H.D. AGAIN we were able to put back the toilet and everything fit correctly.
~ I also did all of our laundry & we grocery shopping for the week.

Here is a list that we still need to do:
~ Finish the flooring in the spare bathroom and then we are done. (Hurray!!!)
~ Shave some of the doors so they close properly.
~ Paint the doors we shaved.
~ Remove the rest of the pictures from the walls, fill holes & paint.
~ We disconnected the alarm system, so we need to hook that back up for the home inspector. Only problem is... we don't know the code :(
~ We need to repaint the back patio... it was painted when we bought the house, and it's all chipped now. That needs to be fixed.

Ok, I think that is it. We are almost done though. I'll be so excited when this is all done and we can put our house up. It's so scary having strange people walk through your house, so I want to make sure we take down and pack anything I don't want up/out.

I will be busy for another week. The following weekend after that, I am going to CA for see Nickel & Gustavo. So, sometime after that, I will post pictures and updates.

Until then, above is a photo of the bathroom we just finished this weekend.

We took this when we went to Margaritaville!

20 Radom Steve "Things"

Crystal posted a very, very sweet message about her husband Scott... and I thought, "I wonder what some random things she could come up with, to post about him".

Well, I can't do one for Scott, but here's a list of 20 random things about Steve:
* His favorite chore is to vacuum.
* He LOVEs to take bathes (with bubbles).
* He has ugly toes.
* He has beautful blue eyes. They're the coolest color blue!
* I had to teach him how to blow his noes.
* He told me 2 weeks after being friends with him in High School, that he would marry me someday, and that scared the life out of me!
* He knows a LOT of random things, and if he doesn't know, he'll make it up. Although he is getting much better, because I have been second guessing him, asking him "how do you know that?".
* When he's mad/angry, his ears (and only his ears) get very, very red (almost purple).
* He remembers everything from High School and it facinates me. (Ex: Can name all the planets in the solar system).
* I have never seen him embarassed or shy. I'm very jealous of those 2 things. I'm both... a LOT.
* He knows exactly what I'm thinking, when I'm thinking it and I don't have to say a thing.
* He loves Spaghetti O's.
* He hates putting his head under water. He won't swim with his head under.
* He can fix anything.
* He loves Dairy Queen and vanilla milk shakes.
* He is very picky about his socks. He usually pulls them off and puts them on 2x a day because of the stitching in the toe.
* He cannot touch his toes.
* He doesn't know his months of the year in order.
* He's the best husband!

Ok, now it's your turn. Crystal, Steph & Brooke, post some random things about your husbands, if you want to ;)

Afternoon In The Park

A couple weeks ago Shannon, Steve & I went to the park with Alanna and I got picture happy. Here are some pics from our visit :)

How We Spent Our Day Today...

There once was a man named Steve. He got ready for work and to leave. Thank God for his luck, he totaled his truck, what a terribly sad man is he!

Steve's truck is on the left.

After spending this morning, watching as they took the reports and towed away Steve's truck, it seems so much better now. I was standing there looking at the sheet metal all scrambled together (the pictures doesn't do justice) and couldn't imagine Steve in the middle of it all. Good news is; he is perfectly fine and he will be staying home tomorrow (Friday) from work to relax.

Dream House

I think I found my dream house. It has EVERYTHING that I could possibly want. I'm trying really hard to convince Steve to build but he's exteremly nervous, plus my Dad warned us not to do it. Here are the things that I liked:

• Wrap around porch
• Lots of windows
• Bathroom right next to the garage entrance
• Very big laundry room
• One big great room, instead of "living room" & "family room" - I don't have enough furniture to fill both.
• Fireplace
• I like the step down into the bonus room. My friend Brooke has an awesome house here in Vegas and she has that step down in her living room - I think it's so cool!

Ok that's it. We went to Barnes & Nobles to read some magazines and Steve came across this one (we were supposed to be looking at ideas to fix up our current house). I think he is regretting it now because we will never be able to do this (and I won't shut up), but it's fun to look.

Talk again soon!
PS - Please ignore my spelling, it's late and I'm exhausted.

Happy New Year!

Nicci, Grant, Chloe & Todd left yesterday :( I wish they could have stayed longer. We had a bunch of fun while they were here. Here are some photos with comments too.
(By the way incase you didn't know... Nicci & Grant are the parents of Chloe & Todd.)

Nicole & Grant

Chloe Dawn

Todd Andrew playing video games

Chloe Playing Slots - what happens in Vegas, stays.

This is a hilarious photo... read his shirt. In case you can't read it, it says "I DO ALL MY OWN STUNTS". He just happened to have it on when Steve & Grant when riding. Chloe & Todd then put the helmets, goggles & gloves on when they were back home.

Chloe - cute as can be.

The Race Team :) They were so cute. These little bodies with HUGE heads. It was very funny.

New Year's Eve I watched Alanna for Shannon. We took some photos then too.

Todd found our NERF guns.

This is Todd Shooting his father (Grant) with the NERF gun.

Nic sitting and relaxing.

Close up of Todd. He's such a polite young man & very handsome too!

Todd's favorite dog was Teal'c. Here's a picture of T & T.

Chloe, the most adorable sweet girl. I should have taken a picture of Nicci & Chloe together. Because, Chloe at age 9 is about 2" shorter than Nicci (hee, hee). Chloe is very tall.

Another picture of Alanna. She's cute as a button :)

New Year's Eve was so much fun. The kids played games and colored. The adults played pool, darts & board games. It was such a great long weekend. Thank you Grant & Nicci for coming.

10 Days of Christmas

Merry Christmas Everybody! We made it home safely late last night (Christmas Eve) and I wanted to post the pictures and share the events of our trip. I will call it "The 10 Days of Christmas".

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On the 1st Day of Christmas: We flew into O'hare Airport about noon. My Dad picked us up and we had Nick's Pizza with my Grandparents.

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On the 2nd Day of Christmas: We had our Schumacher Christmas Party at St. Catherines Church (in the school gym). Here are some pictures attached. I have listed names of everyone.

The game of "P-I-G"
Everyone playing inside the gym.

My cousin Tayna & her husband Tim

My cousin Michelle & Aunt Janet

My Uncle Franz & his daughter (my cousin) Kayla

My cousin Steph & her mom (my Aunt) Annette

My cousins Jeff & Rachel with their mom (my Aunt) Sue

My Uncle Rick and his daughter (my cousin) Mal

All cousins (L-R): Ricky, Jeff, Marty, Ryan & Brenden

My Mom (Janet) & Dad (Kurt) - Aren't they cute!

These are all my cousins that are under the age of 18. They are sitting in a circle to do a gift exchange.

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On the 3rd Day of Christmas: We went to my Mom's house to visit with her. We ended up going to Woodfield Mall to shop a little. For lunch we ate at P.F. Changs and Rick made us dinner. It was very busy & very fun!

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On the 4th Day of Christmas: We visited with our friends Crystal, Kim, Steph & Mark. It was SO great to see them. I didn't get a picture of Kim (sorry). Later that evening, Crystal, Kelly, Steph & I all went to Spring Hill Mall to do a little more shopping. I had a really great time seeing and spending time with ya'll ;)

Malachy - I love this picture!

The Stanger Family - Aren't they so cute?
(L-R): Steph, Malachy & Mark

My friend Crystal & her daughter Maddison - so cute too!

This is Maddison's brother Frank & sister Emily (all 3 are Crystal & Scotts). They were so good and super polite too, I still can't believe how big they are. It was so great to see everyone and catch up!
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On the 5th Day of Christmas: We stayed home for the most part and were bums (although we did manage to go out for lunch, it was Kelly, Steve & I - we had Nick's Pizza again). My Dad & Mom had to work, so Kelly, Steve & I just hung around home and waited for Jackie to get home from school. Later that evening, my Dad took Steve & I to my mom's house so we could spend the next 2 days with her. Rick, Donika & I met my mom at work right when she got off and went to Fridays for dinner.

Kelly lounging around on the couch!

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On the 6th Day of Christmas: We made a huge turkey dinner at my moms. It was really good, and the best part was learning my Grandma Billings stuffing recipe. Thanks Mom!

My Mom (Karen) & husband (Rick)

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On the 7th Day of Christmas: We chopped all my hair off :) - My mom cut & highlighted my hair. It's really short & I love it. We looked at old pictures & had pizza again for dinner (yum)! Later that evening my Mom & Rick took Steve & I back to my Dad's house. The rest of our stay we were at his house. Thanks Mom, I had a wonderful visit!

Donika is doing her new move - "The Whip"
(R-L): Donika (my sister) & my Mom (Karen)

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On the 8th Day of Christmas: My Dad & Mom only had to work until noon, so we hung around the house a little and then went out for dinner. We went to a place called "Cruisin". They have great food & a really fun environment. After, we came home and opened presents. It was such a wonderful night, we had a fire going too! Thank you Mom & Dad!

My sister (Jackie) & Dad - right before we opened presents

My Mom & Kelly - right before we opened presents as well.

Jackie handing out the presents to everyone. She did a GREAT job!

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On the 9th Day of Christmas: (Christmas Eve) We had dinner with my Grandparents again, it was very good, a place called "Ritzies". Thank you Grandpa & Grandma for dinner, it was delicious! After dinner, we headed back to Las Vegas. I was very sad to leave, but I will be looking forward to starting the process to move back home. Once we start that, time should fly by.

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On the 10th Day of Christmas: (Christmas Day) We headed off to Steve's Moms (Lil) house here in Las Vegas. We had a small delay (there was a car accident) but we finally made it. It was great to see everyone and chow on good food!

Steve & his brother (John)

Sylvia (a good friend to the family)

Tom & Steve's Mom (Lil)

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Thank you to everyone for making our trip so special. This will definetaly be one trip I will never forget. It was filled with joy, sadness & excitement. Joy - for all the wonderful days we spent with our family and friends. Sadness - because we had to leave and we didn't get to see everyone we wanted too, we just didn't have enough time. Excitement - because if everything goes smoothly we should be moved back by April/May. We hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday and we are deeply sorry if we were not able to make it to see you.
Merry Christmas and have a great New Year in 2006!