somethingaboutschloemers

The news we received last week is going to change our lives forever . What was once a thing that would hopefully happen...has happened. Next August will be the beginning of a new five year adventure . Because..... JEFFREY GOT INTO GRADUATE SCHOOL! Ok , ok , I know that was a bit dramatic, but we are thrilled , ecstatic , grateful , and soooo happy ! This is what Jeffrey has wanted to do since high school. It was always, "WHEN I get into grad school..." But now it has finally happened! And it happened the first year he applied! There were 22 spots open for 150 applicants. I could not be more proud of him! Jeffrey will be attending George Fox University and in five years will have his PsyD ( fyi - it is the same level as a PhD but is more clinical based). His goal is to be a marriage/family and personal counselor. Our current lease ends in July so we will move further North to the Newberg / Tualatin area and he will begin the program at the end of August. I am c...

Right now I am desperately craving summer. Or more specifically, sun....warmth. Not blistering heat, mind you. But that 'wear just jeans and a tee-shirt, rainbow sandles wearing, run on dirt instead of in a gym, not have your eyes fried by the icy wind, your hair dries in 5 minutes, lovely freckles, have an iced coffee, go for a hike kinda sun. Today I got a slight glimpse as I didn't have to wear my amazingly warm Marmot jacket to class for one of the first times - and I was actually comfortable. Usually I am much more of a winter person. Don't get me wrong, I could really go for some snow pretty much ANY time of the year. And I LOVE the rain. The sound of it pouring outside and tapping the window while you are inside curled up and toasty is IRRESISTIBLE and I would not trade that for anything! But ENOUGH is ENOUGH already! Ya just gotta have some balance. I am sure that once warmer temperatures have graced us with their presence for a couple of months, I will be long...

I realize that it has been a while since I updates our blog but things have been pretty crazy lately...not crazy bad...crazy good! Jeffrey and I were able to go home for Christmas (we were unsure if we could because of his work schedule). We split the time between our families and were able to see a good majority of our friends as well. We went to Redmond, OR January 4-6 and stayed in a condo in celebration of our one year anniversary. It was a wonderful time to get away, relax, and spend some concentrated time together! We went skiing at Hoodoo Mountain for a day, walked around the quaint town of Sisters, OR for another, and basically slept in, ate, and relaxed. We also started reading an excellent book together! On our way back home, we stopped and snowshoed around for a couple of hours. It was perfect and just what we needed before starting another semester! Jeffrey took the GRE on January 3rd and raised his scores from the last time he took it! They were still a little unde...

Considering the fact that Jeffrey is obsessed with anything outdoor (backpacking, hiking, climbing, skiing, etc.) it is pretty surprising that we have never been on a backpacking trip together. I grew up going with my family regularly but really have not been since junior high so I was itching to get out as well. We had gone on a few hikes and had planned to do more this summer but with Jeffrey being in Alaska, it never happened. So one of his first weekends home we decided to go up to Pamalia Lake. We didn't end up leaving until 4:00 PM so we only hiked a total of about 3 miles (this was a good thing considering the fact I was breaking in new boots...which was pretty disastrous actually). We pitched our tent, made some dinner, and made a smoky fire with damp wood. Anyways, it still ended up being fun for our first trip together and hopefully next time we can leave a little earlier and take on something a little more strenuous. Here are some pictures of our trip! Enjoy =) Getting r...

One of my dearest friends Sarah Eaden came to visit Jeffrey and I a few weekends ago. It was a wonderful weekend of winetasting (www.orchardheightswinery.com) , going to Oktoberfest in Mount Angel (www.oktoberfest.org), eating dinner at Montage in Portland (www.montageportland.com), and just spending some much needed time together. This summer, I pretty much saw Sar every day. Usually our get togethers involved running or some sort of other physical activity but rarely was there a day when we did not see each other (and I'm not complaining). I have known this for a while but have really come to this conclusion: Sarah is truely an amazing person. Her gentle spirit and listening ears have helped get me through so many rough patches over the last few years. She has always been there for me in her own way, and it is just what I have needed. She always seems to offers words of wisdom at just the right time and is NEVER afraid to tell me what she thinks. She is honest with me, and that i...

As I grudgingly pulled myself out of bed this morning at 6:23 AM to get ready for a class which I simply had to "make an appearance at", I thought about how much I wanted to crawl back in bed and snuggle up next to my warm husband. It was O, so tempting considering it was about 50 degrees in the room but I mustered up the courage to slide out and make my side of the bed, so to keep the option officially off limits. My shower seemed to liven my sleepy self and I hurriedly got ready for the day (hair, makeup, get dressed, make a smoothie, take vitamins, fill up water bottle, pack backpack, give Jeffrey a kiss goodbye, start freezing cold car, climb in, and drive). I don't really enjoy my 50 minutes of concrete from Salem to Newberg 2x a day but have some what gotten used to it. This morning, however, when I stepped outside, I was blasted with 39 degrees of crisp and refreshing goodness: Fall! It was the first morning I actually FELT a shift in the weather and it was so...

So my little brother is graduating from high school this year. He is so grown up in ALMOST every form of the word and I couldn't be a more proud big sister! When I brought up senior pictures to him, pretty all I got from him was a grunt. Now he has always been know to be rather....well....not photogenic so I expected his response. I asked him if he had any ideas of who he might want to take them and I was surprised to hear him say ME ! I have always considered myself to be a decent photographer but was not quite sure if putting my bro's senior year in my hands was the best option. But after thinking over how unmotivated he would be with any other photographer I thought it would be a fun adventure. I talked to my friend Anna TenBroek who happens to enjoy photography as well (and is pretty fantastic!!!) and we set a date to take him out and 'shoot' him! So one day after work, the three of us piled into my brother's huge truck with two shirts, a pair of romeo's, an...