Redneck Crazy & Royals

1. Redneck Crazy - Tyler Farr. On my, this is Braeden's all-time favorite song. He will request it no matter what. It just gets to him. I love it too. It's a great country song. A little bit of heartbreak and a little bit of revenge all wrapped up with a great chorus and a twang. It doesn't hurt that Willie Robertson is in the video. We love us some Duck Dynasty here in Drosche Land. This is another go-to song for feeling good and singing out loud. Whenever and wherever. 

2. Royals - Lorde. She makes a second appearance this month. The song that introduced the world to Lorde and made her famous. Love it. The beat. The chorus. That voice. They all work together to just make it awesome. I will admit though that it makes me feel slightly ancient to know that she is only 18. Seriously?!  Oh well. I guess it's a good thing I'm young at heart.  

All is well, R down, in Drosche Land. 

Thanksgiving

Well. It's nearly over.

The Thanksgiving Break. November. Both coming to an end very shortly. Time flew. It was a good break. For Amy and I it started with a conference on Monday and Tuesday.  Our Texas District always has a Lutheran Educators conference around this time of year. It was good and I learned some things and got some good ideas. It was located near NASA. I found out that Amy has never been to NASA. Ever. I was shocked. So I see a possible trip in our future?  I think the boys would love it as well. Who doesn't love the idea of space?  Being an astronaut. Weightlessness. Did you want to be an astronaut when you were a kid?  I did. But I also wanted to be an ice cream man for a while too so…. Dream big. 

Speaking of space we finally watched Gravity. Wow. Talk about anxiety attack. Major. Maybe I don't want to be an astronaut after all. We spent nearly the entire 90 minutes of the movie in panic mode. It's a wonder I didn't have a heart attack or eat myself into a sugar coma. But I loved it. Amy, not so much. Too much anxiety for her. 

Wednesday was spent relaxing and prepping for Thursday because we were hosting Thanksgiving for the first time.  Yep, the first time. Originally it was supposed to be my side of the family's yearly Thanksgiving gathering. But life got in the way and people couldn't make it. But we decided to host it anyway. Amy's mom and grandparents came over, as did my parents and grandmother. It was nice. Amy was an amazing hostess (I was not surprised) and the food was great.  It was nice to not have to travel over the holiday and spend hours in the car. The boys even mentioned this and how they liked being at home.  We also were able to start our day off by heading downtown to the Thanksgiving Day Parade, which has become a tradition of ours. That was fun and we enjoyed it. 

Thursday night I went out with Amy's mom for our annual Black Friday shopping. Yes. I shop on Thanksgiving evening. Yes. I do. I'm proud of it. We got some great deals and got much of our Christmas shopping out of the way. And I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. So the two can coexist in the world. Family and Black Friday shopping. 

Friday we spent decorating the house for Christmas and prepping it for Amy's Scentsy Open House. She also had 2 friends over who sell Velata and Plexus. This was to promote Small Business Saturday. They didn't have a ton of people come but it was a success. Amy has begin selling Scentsy again. Now that life has settled down and she has the time for it she decided to revive her business. That and we love Scentsy around here so we are always willing to promote that. 

Today we finished decorating for Christmas and prepped for next week since the holiday is over. Amy's made lunches and laundry is all done. There are only 3 weeks until Christmas Break, but those will be a whirlwind of activity and busyness. 

All in all it was a good break. We rested. We relaxed. We ate great food. We shopped. I can't believe November is over and another birthday month has come and gone.  This also marks the end of hurricane season; another uneventful one. That is always a good thing.

So. That's about it. Random thoughts and reviews of this past week. I'll throw in some pictures as well to highlight some of the fun. December starts tomorrow!

All is well, thankful, in Drosche Land.

We enjoyed the beautiful weather at the park this past week. Fall is here!

My beautiful girls at the Thanksgiving Day Parade!

Yum. Enough said. 

#blackfriday

Look who has returned!  Engelbert!

Happy Day

Birthday that is.

Today was mine. I traveled further down the 30ish road. I'm still getting used to being in my 30's despite having entered a few years ago.  It still amazes me that I am that old. 

Anywho, it was a great day.  Amy busted it to make my favorite foods for dinner and dessert. The kids made beautiful cards for me. And then there was my present. Amy got my family members together to get me an iPhone 6 Plus!  Holla!  However, despite being ordered a while ago, it has yet to ship so I am eagerly awaiting it.

School was more of the same awesomeness. My Room Mom, who also happens to be a friend and coworker, got the parents all together and spoiled me with gifts, lunch, treats, and general pampering. It was great. So nice to be thanked and appreciated. Definitely made the day. 

So here I sit now. Everyone in the house is asleep and all is quiet. Tomorrow is just another regular day. Back to normal. Now is that peaceful, yet slightly melancholy, time when it is all calmly coming to an end. Sort of like Christmas night once the presents have been opened, food eaten, and kids tucked in. Everything is over and you are thankful for your blessings, but still it is all slightly sad that it is over. Do you feel that way on your birthday?  Christmas?  Just wondering. 

But all good things must come to an end and today was definitely a good thing. I was spoiled by my beautiful wife and wonderful kids, family, friends, coworkers, parents, and my dear little students. Great gifts. Great sweets. It was quite the day. I'm very blessed and lucky. 

That's it I guess.  Tomorrow begins another adventure of a year in my 30's. What lies ahead?  What does He have in store?  Who knows, but I can nearly be sure that, if history rings true, there will be many adventures along the way. 

All is well, one year older, in Drosche Land. 

Making a Run for It

Ok. So if you know me at all you know that exercise and I are not good friends. We are barely acquaintances. However, this summer that has changed a bit. 

I've never been one for physical activity. When I was younger it was mainly due to being overweight. And lazy. When I lost all of my weight I just never got into it. I guess my laziness remained. That and I never saw the point. I'd much rather obsess over and control my eating to lose and maintain weight.

This summer though Amy started up a fitness plan with some friends of ours. They would run/walk every morning. At first I was all, "good for you!", and thought nothing more of it.   Then reality hit me. Hard. In the form of weight gain, the worst. I guess as I've gotten older, into my 30's my metabolism is not what it was before. It's still good I think, but I can no longer just drop weight as easily as I could before. Gasp!  Factor in all of the stress/anxiety from the adoption process and I had put on some weight. Not much, but it was above my flex range and I hated it. I eat my anxiety and being at home over the summer was not helping either. 

So, Amy suggested that I try running. Ugh!  Seriously?!  But nothing was chasing me!  No zombies or clowns, what was the point. But,alas, I decided to give in and try it out. How bad could it be?

My first time out I did 2 miles. I'm pretty sure I almost died. I may have blacked out somewhere along the way but I can't be sure. But I survived. Sure I was out of breath and my legs were killing me and I was drenched in sweat; but I was alive. So I decided to continue. That was about 2ish weeks ago and all is going well. It's not horrible. I won't say I love it, but I definitely don't hate it anymore. It is somewhat enjoyable, mostly when it's over and I've recovered, but enjoyable nonetheless. I still have yet to experience this "runner's high" people talk about. I'm pretty sure I have the runner's low down pat, but a high?  Nope. Not yet at least. But I've lost a few pounds and I feel better. 

Well, in keeping with the way Amy and I dive head first into adventures we have also signed up for our first 5K. Seriously. It's a GlowFoam run late next month and I am actually excited about it. It was Amy's idea and she talked me into it.  So, we are in prep mode now and I have stepped up my game to get ready for the 5K. Apparently it is like 3.1 miles so yesterday I upped my daily run to 3.5 miles. Again, I didn't die so all is well with that. 

Amy and I also got Fitbits yesterday to boost our fitness adventure. We are in love. You know I love me some technology and wearable technology is taking over. So now my Pebble I have the Fitbit on, I'm always connected!

Now, I'll quickly clear some things up for you. I do not run the entire time, not in the least. I am not that good. Yet. But I don't walk slowly the entire time either. I do a combo of briskly walking and running. Alternating between the two during my time. I'll call is rulking since it's neither full-on running but also not walking. That makes it sound better. Rulking. That's more my speed!

So, that's it. If you would have said, even a month ago, that we would be into fitness, rulking, and prepping for a 5K I would have said you were crazy!  But here we are fully into a new adventure and loving it. Life can be surprising I guess. Always. 

All is well, working on our fitness, here in Drosche Land. 

Not What I Expected

So, last week was my birthday.  I turned 30+3.  Nope, still not ready to type the number. Oh well.  

It was a good birthday.  Nice and easy.  But it made me think a lot.  I mean, here I am in my (thankfully still) early 30s.  I guess I am now fully an adult.  No denying that.  Marriage.  Career.  3 kids.  2 dogs.  House in the suburbs.  Doesn't get much more adult than that does it?

But it got me thinking about how much life has changed in just the past few years, much less the last 10.  Is this what I expected 30+3 to be like?  I don't know.  Did I ever really think about being 30+3?  Probably not.  But I can guarantee you it was nothing like this.

Now, don't get all shocked and judgmental.  This post isn't necessarily heading in the direction you may think it is.  It won't be what you're expecting (ha, pun on the post's title).

No, this isn't what I expected my life to be like.  I never thought I'd be a teacher.  But here I am in my 10th year teaching 1st Grade and not a day goes by that I am not thrilled with my job.

I knew I would be married, I mean I am pretty co-dependent so it was a given.  But I could never have expected to have a wife like Amy.  One who supports me in everything I do.  Encourages me to be everything that I am and want to be.  Does the bills.  Cooks amazing foods.  Is an awesome mother.  Nope, I didn't expect any of that.

I wanted kids.  But these 3?  They far exceed anything I could have dreamed about.  Braeden, Jackson, and Stella all daily make me smile.  My heart swells and often I can't imagine loving them any more than I do.  Sure they test my patience (also a daily occurrence) but lying down to sleep at night I thank Him for these 3 blessings that I never could have expected.

Teaching at the same school I attended, and loving every minute of it?  Nope, didn't see that one coming.

To have met and made some of the friendships I have?  Again, I'm codependent, but these people are great.

I could go on, but I think I have made my point.  

Nope, I never expected 30+3 to be this.  To be everything that it is.  To be here where I am.  To have the blessings that I have.  To be as thankful as I am.  Nope, I'm still surprised.  God has given me so much to be thankful for that I am in awe.  Daily.  Sure, getting to 30+3 has been an adventure.  The road as had many twists and turns in it and has often been bumpy.  Hurricanes.  Adoption adventures.  Job changes.  So much more.  But it has led me here and here is good.  It's exciting to continue down this road and to see what comes next.

So, maybe this post is a bit sappy and sentimental, but it was a very contemplative birthday this year.  Guess that's what happens when you turn 30+3.  Didn't see that coming either.

All is well, but that's to be expected, in Drosche Land.

Birthday Eve

'Tis the night before my birthday and it's getting late, everyone else is sleeping as tomorrow I await.

Hello again.  Have you seen that movie from the 80s?  With Shelley Long?  I love it, it's great.  A great comedy from my childhood.

Welcome back.  Now the theme song from Welcome Back, Kotter is stuck in my head.  True, before my time, but I was a child of Nick at Nite.  Not the current one with original programming and stuff from the 2000s.  Ugh.  I'm talking about when it was new and they played actual classics.  The Facts of Life, Bewitched, Laugh-In, The Patty Duke Show.  Or have those become vintage and the 90s classics?  Am I getting that old?

But I digress and enough TV references, for this post at least.  So I'm back.  It's not been a whole month, we're a few days shy of that, so you couldn't have forgotten me yet.  However, this seems to be the theme for my dear blog this year.  Who knew 2013 would be so busy?  New jobs, new schools, a toddler.  Anywho, I'm still here.  

So, tomorrow is my birthday.  I can reminisce via this blog of the days when I was lamenting turning 30.  Oh how young and naive I was back then.  :)  I still can't believe that this year I'll be 30+3.  Yeah, I don't think I'm actually ready to see my age in digits just yet.  Yikes.

Another year older.  I don't feel a year older.  I definitely don't feel 30+3.  I think.  Then again, maybe I do.  Maybe this is how it feels to be 30+3?  Not much different than 23 or even 30 for that matter.  Just a little, ok a lot, busier and with more diapers.  But those things can be directly linked to the presence of kids.

The main difference I have found with getting older is the inability to think of gifts that I want for my birthday.  You're always asked.  I used to be able to rattle off an extensive list.  Nope, not anymore.  Am I wiser?  More content?  Probably not.  Maybe the list is just too long for me to single out particular items?  Maybe.  What about you?  Do you find it hard to think of what you want the older you get?

Well, this post seems to be walking the fine line of blogging vs rambling.  Maybe I've crossed it already?  Basically it could be summed up with 1 - Hey, I'm back!  2 - How have you been?  3 - Tomorrow is my birthday.  

Nothing fancy, just me.  Again.

All is well, almost 30+3, in Drosche Land.

Leap

Happy Leap Day!

Leap Day. It comes around only once every 4 years. This year it gave me the opportunity to fit one more post into the month of February. Thanks Leap Day! We celebrated this special day in my classroom, every fun day is a cause to celebrate in 1st Grade, there are no such things as small holidays. We made awesome frog hats (Get it? Leap!), dressed in all green clothes, had a fun Math lesson measuring and graphing how far we could frog hop (Trivia: I can frog hop a distance of 80 inches!), and we wrote about what we thought we would be doing in 4 years, the time the next Leap Day rolls around in 2016. How did you spend your extra day? Was it memorable? Was it ordinary? All of the planning for the day's activities got me thinking, how far have we come since the last Leap Day and what might the next 4 years hold for us?

Flash back to February 29, 2008. We had only been living in the house for about 3 months so everything was still fresh and new, and of course there were boxes everywhere as we were still getting settled in. Jackson was only 5 months old! Braeden was only a year and a half old! That means Amy and I were getting very little sleep! Needless to say with two small boys in diapers we were tired and busy most of the time. I was still working at Memorial and the opportunity to move to Trinity wouldn't come for another year. Amy wasn't the Director yet and wouldn't begin the process for about another month. We were only a one-dog family with Lucy and no Rex. Adoption wasn't even something that was remotely on our radar. There was no blog to document the goings-on in Drosche Land. These are just a handful of the things that were happening the last time we all leaped through a February 29th.

My how far we've come! Looking back I cannot believe how much has happened in just 4 short years. The boys growing up. Job changes. A new dog. The adoption process. The loss of family members, Granny. The gaining of new friends. It really makes you stop and think about how much goes on every day in our lives. Maybe we relish each and every moment, maybe we take them for granted. Think of all of the things that have happened that we've forgotten. The things that once seemed so important, but now are nonexistent.

Of course you can't look back without looking ahead. 4 years. It's such a short time when looking back, but when planning for the future the years stretch out in front of you and you can scarcely see the end. I guess it's good that way though. What does God have in store for the Drosches over the next 4 years? 2016. Braeden will be in 4th Grade, Jackson in 2nd! Stella, not having even graced us with her presence, will be 3 1/2! I've barely gotten used to being in my 30's, but in 4 years the decade will be half over! Will we still be in this house? Will we still drive the same cars? Hopefully we will have made great strides in knocking out our debt snowball, getting closer to financial freedom. By then, Amy and I will have long since celebrated our 10-year anniversary! How will we celebrate? We've always wanted to go back to Las Vegas. Maybe? What role will adoption play in our lives? My list of questions and musings is endless as I'm sure yours, dear readers, are as well. It's fun to think about honestly because the next 4 years is a blank canvas. True, the unknown can be daunting and scary, but it's also exciting and mysterious. My prayers for these upcoming years are simple: happiness, good health, family, friends, strengthened faith, enjoying life. Maybe it's because I'm getting older (gasp!),maybe it's having kids and seeing the world through their eyes, maybe it's my loving wife who keeps me grounded and sane. Whatever the reason, I'm choosing to approach the next 4 years with peace of mind and an open heart. HE has a plan for us and HE knows best. I'm sure I'll fall short of this lofty goal many times in the coming years, but my hope is to remain open and willing to HIS plans and will rather than mine. It's going to be a great 4 years! Can't wait to share it here! I hope you've enjoyed your Leap Day, I can't believe March begins tomorrow!

All is well, leaping about, in Drosche Land.

Sunday Snapshot - 2011 in Review

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So last night we rang in 2012 in low-key style at home.  Jack made it to 8:00, Amy to 9:00, and Braeden to 9:30!  After the kids were all tucked in I spent the time half watching New Year's TV and reading.  The ridiculously large and spectacular fireworks show put on by various neighbors woke Amy up right at 12:00 so we did get to have our kiss and ring it in together.  I don't know how much combined was spent by the neighbors we watched but I'm glad it was funded by their wallet and not mine!  I totally plan on getting a "Resolutions" post out but I'm not sure if it will be today or not.  2012 has already kicked off busily as we finish tidying the house and knocking out the last of the laundry.  We have been dog-sitting one of Amy's Mom's dogs so we have to return her and then pick her Mom up from the airport (Adam has gone off to Nebraska for college and she's on her way back from there).  After dinner with her it will be time to rush home for baths, bedtime, and lunch prep so we can be as fresh and prepared for tomorrow as possible.  Both Amy and Jack resume tomorrow and I have a half-day in-service so Braeden is coming along and will wind up somewhere while I'm in meetings, we go back on Tuesday.  So we will see if there is time tonight before bed for another post but I wanted to get out this Sunday Snapshot because I have been looking forward to it for about a week as I reviewed 2011 in pictures!  I originally planned on doing 12 shots (like I could stay at a limit that small!), one for each month.  However that quickly proved impossible as I couldn't sum up every month and its activities in just one photo.  So I'm hitting each month and including a picture for each of the major events in that month, some have a few more than others.  But I'm pleased with the selections and will post them now before I add more!  Looking back 2011 was a busy and fantastic year!  I hope 2012 will be more of the same!  Enjoy!
 
All is well, picture perfect, in Drosche Land.

January 2011

 We began readying Margaux's room in mid-January.  Yes I know the adoption has been called off, but it was a big part of the first half of 2011.

January also brought Braeden's first 100 Day homework!  100 thumbprints!

February 2011

 Valentine's Day!  The kids had been dying for Pillow Pets!  They are still in love with them!

Ok, no big event here but I LOVE this picture of Jack from one of our trips to see our nephew Jared's basketball games!

March 2011

 March saw the addition of Rex to our family!  I can't believe how little he was or how much he's grown!

During Spring Break we did our annual home improvement project, the floors!  It was hard but totally worth it and I am still in love with tile floors (especially now after getting a Dyson).  I wonder what Spring Break 2012 will bring?

 April 2011

 In April sports came to Drosche Land as Braeden began playing soccer!  Turns out he loved it and was pretty good!

Easter!  I love Jack's face, he gets so much pleasure simply from hunting for eggs!

May 2011

 Braeden turned 5!  Wow!

May proved to be quite Braeden-centric as he also graduated from Pre-Kindergarten!

June 2011

 June began with our trip with Amy's family to Beaver Lake, Arkansas!  It was an excellent time and the kids still ask when we are going to Arkansas again!

I also put my mad deck-building skills to use in June!  Granted a storm as since taken the canopy from us, but I am mentally working on a solution to do this spring/summer thanks to some clever spying on a neighbor whose canopy suffered the same fate as ours!

July 2011

 Another vacation?  Don't mind if we do!  This time it was with my family to Galveston!  

 July also saw Amy start her own blog (find it here) about her love of cooking and the adventures of a busy mom feeding her family great food.  I'm highly recommend checking it out!

August 2011

 

Amy turned 30!  We took another fun trip to our favorite stop - San Antonio's Riverwalk to celebrate!

 

Another school year began!  Braeden in Kindergarten (what?!) and Jack in Pre-School 3!

September 2011

 More sports as Braeden started T-Ball and again not only loved it but was good!

 Jack turned 4!  Wow, 2 old kids in the house!

Braeden lost his first tooth!  He lost another in November so they're just falling out now!

October 2011

 The annual trip to Dewberry Farm to pick the perfect pumpkins!

I got my new iPhone 4S!

 Between having a superhero and a Storm Trooper present on Halloween we were definitely safe from danger!

 #3 is on their way!

November 2011

 I turned 29 31!  Happy Birthday to me!

Adam and I had an awesome trip to Las Vegas for his 21st birthday over Thanksgiving Break!

December 2011

 Our annual Christmas Eve family photo!  Love it!

Another blessed Christmas.  Between Braeden's DS from his birthday and Jack's Christmas gift of a Leapster we rarely see them anymore!  :)  Gaming has entered Drosche Land full force!

Sunday Snapshot - Happy Birthday

Ok, so I know it's not Sunday, but here I am and still within the 24-hour window.

Saturday was my birthday and with it I have fully entered into a new decade - the 30's. It came calmly and slowly which, in this family, can be a good thing. Braeden had a T-Ball game and then we went to his end of the season party where he received his trophy! After that it was back home for some more relaxing before heading out to dinner. Nothing fancy but I thoroughly enjoyed my day. I guess the older I get, the more I realize how lucky I am to have the blessings I have been given. My gift is the upcoming trip to Las Vegas with Adam and I am stoked about that! Look for more posts about that as it gets nearer.

All in all it was a great day spent celebrating with my family and I couldn't have asked for more. A few pictures taken of the event, simple, nothing fancy but still fun!  So, bring it on 30's! I'm ready!

All is well, picture perfect, in Drosche Land.

  Celebrating my birthday at school with a ginormous, and delicious, piece of cake from a student!

 

 My birthday breakfast!  Yum!

 Happy 31st Birthday!

November?!?!

Ok, so we are officially 3 full days into the month but I am still in shock that it is actually November already! Where has 2011 gone? Are we seriously this close to its end? As surprised as I am at its arrival I am also excited at most of the events it holds.

First up - my birthday! Yippee! Usually a cause for celebration but this year I approach it with some trepidation. As you'll remember from my frequent posts last year, 30 was somewhat scary to me. Me? 30? Well, I guess I've gotten used to the idea just in time for my birthday to roll around again. 31? Now I'm fully invested into a new decade. 30 was just dipping my toes in, trying it out. But 31? Now I am actually IN my 30's! I'm not sure I am so comfortable with this or remotely used to it but it will be here soon enough (2 days for those of you counting down)!

The other big event this month, and one I am certainly more excited about, is my trip to Las Vegas with Adam over the Thanksgiving break! It's his 21st birthday and Amy and I, for as long as we can all remember, have promised him that we would take him to Las Vegas when he turned 21. He never forgot about this and held us to it this year! My wonderful wife (love you Amy) is letting us go for a guys's trip to Las Vegas and its going to be awesome! See, you know I'm an only child and although it does have its perks, I've always wanted a sibling (Mom, you know it's true!). So Adam is my little brother, and a great one at that. We leave the day before Thanksgiving, which is his actual birthday, and return Saturday. Just enough time to have fun and hopefully make some money! I'm hoping that with Adam's skills and knowledge and my, well my support, we'll make some money. I think a 60/40 split is fair (I'm the 40), right? Regardless of money won (or lost) it'll be a great time.

Then of course there's Thanksgiving this month. I'll be out of town in Vegas this year (thanks Amy) but I still have so much to be thankful for. I do love this holiday and this time of year. I feel bad that somehow it has gotten lost/skipped over in between Halloween and Christmas. Poor Tom Turkey. It's a wonderful sentimental holiday and it comes with some great food. I'm already starting to crave turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie, cranberries, and the list goes on.

Lastly, my beautiful wife is pregnant! I know we have a ways to go and this post is technically about November, but it puts us one month closer to the baby and I couldn't be more excited or happy. I haven't posted much about it since the announcement, but worry not. I will be updating frequently. Our first doctor's appointment is next week so stay tuned!

So, there you have it, November. Although it has snuck up on me I do feel it's going to be a great month and am looking forward to it. Plus, it means we are that much closer to Christmas which is, to quote the song, the most wonderful time of the year!

All is well, starting a new month, in Drosche Land.

iReady

So, unless you live under a rock you already know about the death of Steve Jobs yesterday, just one day after the announcement of the new iPhone 4S. Sad. Leads to mixed feelings about the new iPhone.

Obviously since I was in the classroom all day on Tuesday, I couldn't stay as up to date as I'd have liked on the announcements but I did have a friend text me highlights. I have to admit, at first I was a bit disappointed at the fact that there is no iPhone 5. But, in agreement with a blog I read, technically the iPhone 4S is the iPhone 5 everyone was hoping for and expecting, just with a different name. I'm totally stoked about it and cannot wait. Tomorrow is the big day when preorders begin! I still haven't worked out all the plans with Amy so we will see what we decide to do about getting a new phone. Luckily though, my contract is up so we wouldn't end up paying an overly exorbitant price for a new one. We will see what we decide tomorrow. I will admit though that the thought has crossed my mind to stay up until midnight to see the moment when they go on sale! The only reason I haven't made a firm decision to do so is because I can't find any concrete information on what time exactly it will go on sale. Knowing my luck it would be midnight PST and, although I love staying up late, 2:00 am is too late for me, especially now that I am the ripe old age of 30! A quick check first thing tomorrow morning will have to suffice!

In the mean time my poor iPhone continues on its slow path of self-destruction, showing no rhyme or reason in its pattern of sudden shutdown. I have to admit that I am so looking forward to the day when I do have a new phone and am no longer forced to remain within a charger's cord length of an outlet to use my phone for longer than a few minutes! Frustrating as it is though, I still love my iPhone and a part of me will miss it whenever I do finally upgrade. I am a total Apple addict. I don't see myself owning any other type of phone or computer ever.

So, with all the excitement of a kid on Christmas Eve I will head to bed tonight eager to see what the early morning hours bring! I can't wait. Hey, at least I'm admitting of and comfortable with my nerdy addiction!

All is well, iWaiting, in Drosche Land.

Sunday Snapshot - Another 30!

Well, Amy's big 30th birthday isn't officially until tomorrow.  However, due to the crazy schedule of our jobs in August, we have started the celebrating a little early since her actual birthday falls on Meet the Teacher Night for Trinity's Early Childhood Program.  That means a late night (after all day at school), no time for dinner out.  Think that's bad?  Next year her birthday falls on the first day of school!  It doesn't get any crazier than that!  You'll remember we began the celebrating last weekend when I took her away to San Antonio for her birthday getaway.  That was the start of it all, a birthday week sort of.  Tonight we decided to have a cake since we would not likely have the time or energy to do so tomorrow.  I made the cake, per her request: strawberry with chocolate frosting.  We sang, she wished, we ate.  It was pretty good too!  Tomorrow morning she will get her cards and present.  True to Amy form, she has a pretty good idea of what she is getting!  She hates surprises and probably due to that she is impossible to surprise!  Although, you never know what I have up my sleeve!  I'll have another birthday-themed post tomorrow for my very special birthday girl so we will see if I succeeded!  

All is well, picture perfect, in Drosche Land.

 It's not a cake without candles!

 It's not a birthday without singing!

 Birthday cake!

  The beautiful birthday girl!

 

Sunday Snapshot - Getaway

Ok, so I have been gone for a while but I am back!  Well, I actually never left but things got busy last week as we all returned to our school routines since I had to report back August 1.  I am stoked about the new school year but things got busy quick.  Throw in the fact that Friday I took Amy to San Antonio for her 30th birthday getaway and that made things busier as we prepped the house, the boys, and ourselves for a weekend away.  But I am back and ready to roll.  On with the post.


So, you may remember that last year for my 30th (here and here) Amy took me to San Antonio for the weekend to celebrate.  We love the Riverwalk and have deemed it "Our Place".  So, I decided to take her there for her 30th birthday this year.  Yes, I know it technically isn't her birthday but since it does fall right at the beginning of the year (when we are incredibly busy) this was the closest I could get before things get insane.  I decided to take her away, just the 2 of us, and leave the boys with my mom.  Long blog short - we had an awesome time.  It was great to be just the two of us.  No rushing, no kid's menus, doing what we wanted and when we wanted to.  Bliss.  The first night there we ate at a very nice restaurant (per her request) called Biga on the Banks.  We highly recommend it as we had an amazing, romantic, 2-hour dinner.  The rest of the weekend involved a trip to the Pearl Farmer's Market (another recommendation), shopping in San Marcos, seeing Harry Potter at the theater, and lots of relaxing and quality time together.  It was a memorable trip and we are already talking about our next one.  Amy truly enjoyed it and the look on her face was worth it all.

So, this turned out to be a bit longer than the standard Sunday Snapshot post, but there was some catching up to do.  We didn't have the camera with us but I took tons of pictures on my iPhone of the delicious food we ate.  I don't know which one of us will be posting those on our blogs, we will see.  The one picture I share though, since it is a Sunday Snapshot post, is one of my beautiful wife Amy this morning at breakfast on the Riverwalk.  It was her trip after all and she is amazing.  I think the picture is pretty great too (thanks to Instagram my new fave app!).

I LOVE her!