20 Things I love... on the 20th

Ok... I have a few friends that made super cool scrapbook pages to represent 12 on the 12th. Well, I didn't jump on the bandwagon quite in time... So, considering today is the 20th, I am going to list 20 things I love right now... On the 20th.

1. Coffee. Yep. 'Nuf said.

2. Imitrex. Woke up with a migraine. Don't know what I'd do without Imitrex to make it go away.

3. Brady's laugh. It is just as infectious as his smile. I love him.

4. Words with Friends. It's more of a love/hate thing really...

5. My new camera. Canon 7D. It rocks.

6. Drinking wine in Carmel. Although I am not doing it right now, I am thinking about it right now.

7. Toys that don't make noise.

8. Grandma Heidy. I love when she watches my kids.

9. Sex Kitten. It's eye shadow. I swear.

10. My fresh pedicure. There is nothing better than freshly painted toes. Well, maybe a few things, but not many.

11. My new website. Check it out: www.pattyschmidtphotography.com

12. ...

13. My iPhone...

14. The fact that the sun might actually shine through the fog today... Hopefully.

15. Onion dip and potato chips. I forgot to put out the dip at Carson's party which means I get to eat it all for myself.

16. Christmas Cards. They are still hanging on the wall in my house. I enjoy looking at them. Especially all the one's that I took.

17. A clean house. The housekeeper came on Tuesday. It makes me sigh a breath of relief.

18. Hanky Panky. The underwear. They are the best.

19. The thought of Summer lingering in the distance. I know it is not even spring yet, but I live for the summer.

20. Life.

Learning to Appreciate it all...

Life the last month or so has been a big blur. My photography business took off with so many families needing pictures for the holidays. Christmas came and went. The New Year has arrived. And here I am... trying to put together the pieces of what seems like a whirlwind that has hit me over the last month or so.

Amid some good moments, more than a couple glasses of wine and several buckets tears, I am left trying to make sense of it all..

I recall a conversation with Steve about a month ago. I told him, "For the first time in a long time, I am content. I have everything in place. I have a great husband, family and friends. I have the opportunity to stay home with my beautiful children. And have a photography business that allows me to be me."

That is about when my whole world seemed to come crashing down.

"Why?"

"You have the perfect life?"

"What do you have to be sad about?"

Or as my sarcastic husband would say... "You have it soooo rough..."

Tears.

More tears.

We live our whole lives wanting to achieve that next big thing.

We graduate high school... then move on to graduate college.... then get a job... then look for the love of our lives... only to get married... then to have children... then more children.... (not all of us in this order, but you get the idea.)

And now... here I am. I am at the best place in my life where I get to enjoy it all. But somehow I don't know how to. I feel sort of a let down of not having that next big thing to achieve.

It seemed as though the screaming children got louder, the piles of laundry got higher, the dishes got dirtier, and the poopie diapers got smellier. For some reason it didn't all seem as glamorous as I thought it was going to be.

I thought running away would help. I ventured to the beautiful central coast where the sun was shining and the wine was chilled. I scrapbooked, visited with long time friends, the kids played, I gallivanted around Carmel, and took pictures in Salinas. Life was good... for the moment.

And then I came home. The screaming children got even LOUDER... The laundry was HIGHER... The dishes DIRTIER... AND the diapers definitely SMELLIER...

The husband didn't understand.

That's when the tears poured even harder.

I then tried to remember a particular day....

This day...

It was a last minute decision to take the kids to the beach in Carmel. We arrived at about 3 0'clock in the afternoon. It was beautiful for a November day. The sun was shining. The water was warm. I sat on a blanket and watched the boys play as I enjoyed a glass of wine with a dear friend. That was the life. It was in that moment, I was content.

I wanted every day to be like that one. But unfortunately not every day can be.

But what I am starting to realize is that I need to take more days like that one. Stop and smell the roses, if you will. Because the children are going to cry, poopie diapers are still going to stink and the laundry is never going to stop getting dirty.

However, learning to appreciate it all is definitely the hardest lesson of life.

And I am still learning...

Christmas Spirit

I have a gazillion other things I could (should) be doing right now so I thought, why not update my blog.

After a few amazing days in the Monterey area without the kids and a couple days back at home with THREE children.... I would first like to say that I am glad for my husbands vasectomy! Jane was a doll, but now it is back to business because I just realized that Christmas is NEXT WEEK.

Enough with the daydreaming already.

However, among my daydreaming, I starting thinking about something pretty serious.

As many of you know, the holidays have always been a time of stress and havoc for me. I try to avoid the holidays as much as possible.

But this year as I was running for cover, I realized that I have TWO amazing children that I need that I want to enjoy the holidays to the fullest. I want them to look back on their childhood and remember how wonderful Christmas was. I want them to remember specific things that I went out of my way to make special for them.

So, tonight, I shouted, "Who wants to get in the Christmas spirit?"

And Carson replied... "Not me."

I have some work to do...

Maybe I should start with putting the Halloween decorations away and start decorating for Christmas.

Promise...

I want to update my blog soooo bad!!

I just never seem to have the time anymore.

But I am going to make the time.

Soon.

Promise.

Hmm....

I can't believe that it has been almost 4 weeks since I have last updated my blog.

Bummer.

A Wolf in Orange Clothing

This weeks contest over at I Heart Faces is the color "ORANGE".

I have tons of cool pictures with orange in them, considering that orange IS my favorite color and all...

BUT, this week I feel that the "orange" story is way better than the "orange" picture.

There he was, on his death bed last march, anticipating opening day for the Giants at AT&T Park. Somehow he managed to have a laptop and credit card handy to purchase tickets for that special day that he and his wife refused to miss. His dad told him that he'd figure out a way to get him there no matter what.

But unfortunately, Blair passed away on March 24, 2010 just two weeks before opening day.

His wife, Heather, my best friend and I, fulfilled the promise that was made to him and took "him" to Opening day. Notice the little bottle in my hand. :)

As a die hard Los Angeles Dodger fan, I swallowed every bit of blue pride I had and put on an "ORANGE" and black Giants shirt to wear to opening day in honor of Blair Weber.

It was Blair's dream of the Giants winning the World Series. And as you may have recently recalled, the Giants finished off THIS season winning the World Series.

Here's to you Blair.

And may I NEVER wear ORANGE and black again!!

I Love My Car...

I love my 2007 Yukon Denali.

Yes, I have had MANY problems with it. It is sort of a POS. It has been in the shop numerous times, it was in the shop for over a month this past spring, it's kinda falling apart, the navigation sucks, it has left us stranded because of the battery dying on numerous occasions. It gets horrible gas mileage. It is nasty dirty because I let my kids eat in it. But on the other hand...

• I love how big it is without being to big.

• The boys have their space in the back seat.

• My side view mirrors automatically fold in.

• The back gate/door had a button you push to shut it which is super great when you hands are full of children and groceries.

• Heated steering wheel. Nice on cold winter mornings.

• Comfortable.

• The service department at Kitahara GMC is great.

• Third row seating.

• Has remote start which is great during the hot Fresno summers to get the AC running prior to entering the car.

• DVD player for the kids.

• I even love that Steve changed out the ugly red GMC logo on the grill for an all Chrome one.

• It's All-Wheel-Drive which is great for when I throw the snow boards in the back and head up to Sierra Summit.

• I feel safe when driving it.

Well, today Steve and I are going car shopping. I hate car shopping to say the least. Do I really need a new car? No, not really. But the way Steve looks at it is that the car needs new tires, and wants to get rid of the car before the warranty expires, and as an opportunity to save some money. We are unfortunately not disciplined enough to pay for our cars outright, therefore sticking us with a pretty hefty car payment.

You'd think I'd learn by now not to get too attached to my car, because eventually Steve is going to make me get a new one.

But I will make peace with my inner materialistic demons and be face the fact that I will have to downsize, to in turn, save us money. Sigh.

So, if you have any car suggestions for me, I would love to hear them....