A Week in the Windy City

Well, we're back from Chicago! This Christmas, we spent a week in Chicago with all of the McSpaddens because it is Mark's brother's last semester in Med School, so we thought it would be fun to relax and enjoy a white Christmas for once! We had amazing food- pizza (twice), dinner at a jazz restaurant, dinner at the place where the movie Backdraft was filmed, and my favorite place--- A Jewish Restaurant on Christmas Day! :) 

When we first got there, we had to pull our luggage through a lot of snow, ice, and water--- not fun! But it was worth it b/c the hotel was beautiful, and it overlooked Michigan Ave. We played games, made a puzzle, went to the Shedd Aquarium, and went shopping. Not to mention, we saw Wicked (my 2nd time!). It was a fabulous time! We feel so blessed! Here are some photos from our trip! Happy New Year to all!

Having a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the McSpaddens!

We have so many blessings this Christmas! A wonderful home, family, great friends, our health, and each other!
  

This past weekend, we went to the annual "Kolendo Cookie Decorating Party," and it didn't disappoint! The Kolendo's new baby, Kaden, was part of the fun (although he won't be decorating cookies for awhile!) We were, again, asked to decorate a cookie to resemble your spouse. This year, we did much better- except for the fact that Mark gave decorated me as wearing a tank top, which clearly I was not! We can't say that for our "couple's tree cookie." I accidentally broke the top of our super abstract tree, so it was 1/2 the size of everyone else's. It became the "Charlie Brown" cookie!

We are both thrilled to have 2 weeks off of work to relax and enjoy the holidays. 

We hope to post a lot of pictures from our holiday adventures and house projects! We'll keep you posted!

Holiday Fun!

Here are some favorite things about the holidays for us that we thought we'd share as well:

Mark's Favorites: (these seem like things he likes year round, but when I asked, this is what he said!

1. Fires (we do have a fire place now!)

2. Family (hanging out, eating, games, etc...)

3. Food (meat and candy- you know

 your basic food groups) 

4. Paid time off (we both appreciate this one)

5. Tying up loose ends (just tonight he cleaned out his email inbox and finished 2 books)

Shevawn's Favorite:

1. Constant reminders of the LORD and his glory!

2. Christmas Decorations (including the tree- it just makes everything so warm and homey!)

3. The fireplace- ours is real, so we get that wonderful crackle and smell- I love it!

4. Reading a ton of books- I cannot wait to get started! 

5. Time with family- I feel like I get more opps to see all of my family and catch up... my sister is moments away from having a baby, and I love that I will get to be there for her!

and tied for 5th- NO WORK- yep! I said it! 2 weeks is such a great amount of time to decompress after a tiring semester, so yea, I said it, NO WORK!

What's New this Christmas:

1. Our home

2. Our snuggle pup- Myko

3. The fireplace (it needs a place of its own on the list)

4. Our Christmas tree- usually we get a real one, but now we have an attic!

5. A roommate- Sister Kim (Keith's wife) is living with us until April :) We love her!

Here are some photos of our house- decorated for the holidays ! Merry Christmas!

Super Fast Update

Here's the McSpadden's life in a nutshell right now...

1. Work (both of us)

2. Painting the kitchen

3. Camping

4. Holiday Hustle :)

5. Gearin' up to go to Chicago

6. Chasin' the dog

7. Happy! 

More specific updates to come! :)

Ike Virus

Well, I decided to blog today, not only because I am at home again for my 3rd sick day this week, but also because our t.v. isn't working, and I am awake from one of my many naps today. For those of you who don't know, I caught the "Ike Virus." That's right, the "Ike Virus." It started last Friday, when the air changed. I had a terrible headache, then a sore throat, then my sinus headaches were unbearable. I decided to go to work Monday, although I had blown my nose so much that I looked a little on the "Rudolph" side. By Monday evening I felt miserable, I called in a sub, went to the doctor, got tons of meds, and rested before trying to go back Wednesday. Well, Wednesday, I felt worse, not to mention, my sister caught the Ike Virus and she stayed home as well. My poor husband had the daunting task of caring for us both! :) I went back to work Thursday, to come home feeling worse than I did the day before. Once again, I called in a sub and here I sit, Friday, at home, with no t.v., a quiet house (Mark went in to the office and Kim is already better). What ever will I do with my day. I think I am going to take another nap in between coughing up a lung and feeling the effects of my 5 medications. Or maybe I'll play with Myko- he's just sitting here, staring, confused as to why I am here on a workday, I'm sure. Sheesh! My poor students and more importantly, my poor husband! Who wants to look at a virused (?) mess! Hopefully this weekend the LORD will bring a renewed health and energy, not to mention rest, so that I can make it to Small Group Sunday and back to work Monday. We'll see!

Better Late than Never...

Well, I know it's been awhile since we've updated our blog, so here we go...

1. Many of you didn't know this, but I have been on crutches for about 2 weeks. Let me say, as much as I enjoyed rubbing my armpits raw and being wheel-chaired around IKEA with my husband, it was really great news today when my doctor declared that I could toss the crutches aside! Hooray! I will say that I now have much more of an appreciation for being about to walk and exercise. It is a humbling experience to be limited in such a way. 

2. Myko Update- Myko weighs 11.2 pounds now and he is 2 weeks away from ending his ability to impregnate a female puppy. I am hoping that he will calm down a bit after some of the "life" is taken out of him, if you know what I mean. We do love him! Puppy school is up next, right after he is snipped. We'll keep you posted!

3. Shevawn's School Stuff- Well, I started back to school just 3 weeks ago, but man it feels a lot longer than that! I am really enjoying teaching the GT students. Their sense of humor is so much fun, and they really are a different breed. I love it! I am having the hardest time adjusting to going back to work. My sleep schedule is terrible, and I drag all morning long. Hopefully, it will get better.... Lately, I've been feeling a little lonely at school. I am at the end of the hall, not on a team, and I don't get many visitors. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a social person, and I crave interaction. I told Mark that I felt that maybe the LORD is preparing me to enjoy quiet and enjoy being with myself (as weird as that sounds). One day, if I am blessed to stay home when we have children, I will need to be able to be around "just me" and the kiddos, and the social interaction will be limited. I will just try to prepare myself now, right???

* Insert funny quote here: Let's see.... students say funny things everyday, but what about me? Well... a couple of days ago, I was trying to tell my students to move a little faster in class. I said, "You guys are moving at the speed of a tortoise and you really need to move at the speed of a hare." Except that's not quite what I said.... What really came out was, " You guys are moving at the speed of a tortoise and you really need to move at the speed of a whore." Whoa.... did I just say what I thought I said--- yep.... the kids looked at me, and I just said--- uhhh.... "Word Vomit!" and we moved on. Wouldn't you believe that there is still a group of girls that remind me daily about that comment. :) Hopefully I did not encourage any pre teens to get pregnant.

4. Mark's Update- I asked Mark to give an update. He said he will post some things later, but here is his short list to describe where he is: working, reading, football watching, and relaxing. Wow.... his update is shorter and more relaxing than mine! Any surprises there?

Here's a pic of Myks and I.... We'll post some pics of our update office this weekend! Love you all! 

Summer Fun!

(Myko- aka McPuppy or "Mac Puppy" based on this photo)

Well, I can't believe it is already the middle of July! We won't talk about the ever approaching Birthday of mine coming up, as I have started to think that counting backwards would be fun for my Birthdays from here on out! I am also realizing that my summer is coming to an end, and pretty soon I'll be back to the middle school entertainers! :)

So, let's see... Myko is growing. He's over 5 pounds now, and is getting longer and has more personality. We are really loving him, and I must take the time now to praise my husband for his willingness to always take Myko outside, play with him, and for being patient with him. Mark's the best! Above is a shot of Myko, taking an interest in technology. I bet Mark was really proud!

We had a lot of fun on the 4th! Mark's family had us over because the boys and their wives were all in town, so we went on the boat, ate a lot of food, and played Settlers... super fun! (I won't mention how awesome it was to win.... but it was AWESOME!) 

(Me and Sister Kim on the boat/ All of the McSiblings- Keith, Kim, Steph, Josh, Mark and Me)

Mark and I were also given some excited news at 5 am on the 4th--- our best friends, Crystal and Keenan were in labor, and they were on their way to the hospital. We decided that it would probably take awhile for the baby to come, so we went ahead and went on the boat (sorry Crys... we were boatin' it up while you were in labor). We made it to the hospital just in time (30 min. before Kaden was born). It was a very special moment, and were felt so blessed to be a part of it all! Congratulations to them, and we are so excited about the new addition! I think Mark put it best when he held Kaden. He said, "Dude, I'm so glad you're a boy.... sports, football, I mean, it's gonna be awesome. Oh- and food, yea, we'll eat a lot, too." He was precious!

 

Keenan, Crystal, Kaden, Me, and Mark at the hospital! This time last year, we were reminiscing our month old Europe trip! Friendship is such a blessing. We love you Kolendos! 

An Update....

Well, week 3 is upon us and I haven't posted since my last frustrating rant...

Myko is doing great! We are really starting to get the hang of things! Mark even said tonight that he is starting to like him more, and the biting is getting fewer and further between. I think it is all the episodes of Dog Whisperer that we have been watching, but Mark keeps reminding me to be the "pack leader" and stand up when I talk to him so that I seem bigger to him. He says that when I play with Myko on the floor, I am like a "big dog" to him. I guess I shouldn't take it personally that my husband called me a big dog. :)

We also keep calling Myko random nick names out of nowhere. Here are a few that seem to keep popping up!

1. Myks (pronounced: meeks) We use this one the most!
2. Mykster (pronounced: meeks-ter)
3. Myky (pronounced: meek-y)

I'll post a video and more pictures later! But for now--- everything is going great with our little puppy and our sanity!

P.S. He is still 100% sleeping through the night! No whines, no barks, no potty! Perfect!

Week One with Myko...Survival and Patience

Well, it's been one week exactly since we went to get our puppy from Bonham, and he has gotten quite comfortable in the McSpadden household. Okay, so don't get me wrong... I LOVE our dog, Myko. He has the cutest face in the whole world, it takes him about 5 minutes and all his strength and energy to bark, and he loves running back and forth. When I let him out of his crate, his excitement to see me is priceless!

With that being said, I have to ask my good friends, why they didn't warn me that I would want to pull my hair out on a consistent basis? Seriously, today,  had to have a "come to Jesus" meeting with our dog because of the intense biting and growling... he doesn't do it to Mark, but he does it to me. I LOVE snuggling with him and throwing a ball for him to retrieve, but seriously, the biting!!! Granted, it's only been about 3 days of biting and growling, so maybe I should give it longer, but we'll see. Here are some things we've tried:

1. Holding his mouth and saying, "no bite"

2. Barely popping his mouth and saying "no bite" (see the trend here)

3. Saying no bite, holding his mouth, and then putting him in the laundry room for 30 sec (time out)

4. Screaming "ouch" and walking away (trying to ignore him, but he follows me and jumps at me)

.....and then there's the growling. He looks like a gremlin mixed with the personality of Old Yeller when Yeller gets rabies. I keep asking Mark, "Does our dog have rabies?" He laughs it off and says, "No," but I am still suspicious. I may ask for a rabies test when I take him to the vet this week. :)

ON A POSITIVE NOTE: Myko has slept through the night every night except for the 2nd night we had him, and even then, he only needed to go potty at 2am. I guess God knows I couldn't handle losing sleep AND having my flesh ripped from my skin at the same time. :)

In order to provide a visual to how my week started and ended with Myko. The picture at the beginning of this post was taken the day we got him, and the picture below is one of me right after I put Myko to bed this evening. Can you sense my frustration!

 May I have patience with this pup, so that I can enjoy my summer and our dog! Any advice? Any anti-biting strategies? Help! At least pray for me to have patience with this dog. Babies are easier than dogs, right? :)

Myko: Our First Puppy

Wanted to just let everyone know that tonight, we went and picked up the greatest puppy ever, Myko.

Myko (Me-Co) is a 7 week old Miniature Schnauzer, and he was the first one of the pups to walk up to Shevawn when we went to pick one out. He loved her at first sight, and any dog that does that is one worth taking home!

Here are some photos!

Hello Myko!

Our First House

Today we became homeowners! We are super excited about our new house. It's not too far from where we live now, but we are definitely "moving up!" 

We both took the day off to take care of last minute details, bank trips, and sign all of our documents. We started off the day by shooting a video of our current apartment in all of its glory. It was a great way to finish off our time in this apartment. We shared funny stories and realized how blessed we were in our first home, as we move on to this new house.

Then, we had lunch at Chick-Fil-A, ran a million errands and went to the title company to sign the very, very large stack of paper work. I even asked the lady in charge of our paper work if I could take a picture for my scrapbook. She laughed, and as you can see, we had to sign a lot of papers! I told Mark that it was kind of crazy that we had to sign more papers for this, than when we got married! What are we getting ourselves into?? :)

Since our closing was at 2:00, and the sellers couldn't close until 4:00 (grrrr, but okay) we had some time to kill, so we turned on the water at the house, ran a few errands, and since were were STILL waiting, we went to Dairy Queen and waited patiently with our ice cream cones for the title company to call. Mark and I played thumb war, and I said, "If I win, then the phone will ring..." Well, I kid you not, I won, and the phone rang! We were off! We picked up the keys and headed to our new house!

We decided to order a pizza when we got there and eat on the living room floor. While we were waiting for the pizza, we decided to check out some of the projects ahead of us. Mark tried to clean off the back patio with a garden hose, I checked out some of the appliances, and we really just marveled in the fact that this all really just happened. 

When the pizza arrived (don't worry, I got a photo of our first visitor) we were so excited to have our first meal in our first home! Right when we sat down, we noticed that the agents for the sellers were there to take the sign out of the yard. Since we didn't have a picture in front of the house yet, we asked them to take it. They were so excited because they just celebrated with the sellers, and they said it was really emotional. They said that what helped the couple to feel "okay" with selling was knowing that we were so excited. They raised their kids in that home, so it was hard to say goodbye. They said that the lady told them at the title company  how I took a picture of the paperwork, and how excited we were, and that gave them a peace about us taking the house. So all around, we feel like God really blessed this house, this purchase: everything.

We still have some time before we move in, and Mark is a little bummed about it. He seemed to sulk a little coming up the stairs to the apartment, but I know that it will be worth the wait! We are so blessed to be homeowners! 

One of my favorite DFW holidays!

It's not on any calendar, but about once a year it snows in this part of Texas, and it sure feels like a full fledged holiday. I love seeing everything covered in white and listening to weather men frantically interrupt commercials with "Winter storm warnings" and the like. (They've learned not to break into real shows.)

Even though I'm normally pretty diligent while working at home, today I couldn't help but take longer than usual breaks to stare out at the white goodness. I guess that's the benefit of not worrying about commuting in this weather.

If you live in a different part of the metroplex that missed out on the snow, (we here mesquite and sunnyvale got no snow, only rain) pictures will have to do. :)




(This post also ends the long famed Mark absense from the blog!)

Amarillo by Mornin'

Well, since Mark has officially "abandoned" our blog (ha ha) I will update the world on what has been happening in the McSpadden household. Well, we are working, working, working, and in the meantime, we are looking for a house. My aunt is helping us look for a place, and we are really excited about extending our space a bit! More news on that in the coming weeks.

This past weekend, Mark and I got to take a pleasant, yet strenuous drive to Amarillo, Texas for the wedding of one of our favorite friends: Katherine. It got off to a slow start, as we were supposed to leave Friday night, and I caught the "crud" (from one of my germ-filled sixth graders, I'm sure!). So, by Sat. morning, I was feeling much better... that's right- Amarillo by morning!

Let me just say, a 6 hour car ride is such an amazing way to spend quality time talking with your spouse. I am really serious on this... no exaggerating or sarcasm! We really got to talk it up, it was great!

The wedding was beautiful, the flowers, the cake, all of it was lovely. However, in all my listening to George Strait's song, and hearing people talk about "A" town, I have never heard how awful this place smells. Mark and I were immediately surprised by the pungent aroma of the nearby dairy farms. Wouldn't you know that a dairy farm or 2 were placed right by our hotel! We screamed, "hurry up, get in the hotel room, so the smell will go away!" But, nope. That smell followed us back to room 120. Wonderful. Luckily, I was still halfway recovering from "the crud" so my nostrils were lucky to be somewhat on vacation.

Anyhow, we loved getting to be a part of Katherine and Billy's special day (she was also one of the Aggies on the trip we took to Thailand, back in 2004), and we even got to grow in our marriage by spending over 12 hours in the car! It may have been smelly in Amarillo, but coming home to a rekindled marriage smells pretty nice to me! :) Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Parks!

* On a side note- the picture on the right, below with the bride (Katherine), the groom (Billy), Mark, and I, has a lady in it. She was a relative of Katherine's, who jumped in the picture. Funny, huh? We thought it was hilarious and didn't have the heart to bump her from our photo!

All these babies....a blog blessing and mild rant... all in one

There must be something in the water. It seems like ever woman I know is pregnant... yep, preggars! It reminds me of a time about 3 and a 1/2 years ago when I would say, "Mark, all my friends are getting married!" I remember how much God has shown me that our patience in waiting to get get married has paid off, and I have to believe that he prepared me during that time for later on in my life when I would feel left out again... like I was the "only one" not experiencing something special. The truth is that "right now" is our something special. We are getting to spend quality time alone together, growing our marriage. 

Don't get me wrong- we aren't trying to have a baby... I mean for crying out loud- I am still trying to convince Mark of the benefits of having a dog! If that has taken 2 and a 1/2 years for him to cave on getting a dog, how old will we be when babies are in the picture? I know that women in the Bible were having babies until they were 50, but really?  Again, God has shown me how much patience is rewarded, so I trust that in God's timing, Mark and I will be blessed with.... a DOG... and then baby... who knows. 

Anyway, I am not saying I want us to join the baby train, I am just surrounded by these amazing women that are getting the opportunity to start a family with their amazing hubbies. I just pray that one day I will have the chance to share that opportunity with my husband. To see a little Mark... typing on his little MacBook.... well... it is just a precious thought. Honestly, I am just so excited about my friends and their husbands and the joy that they are experiencing that I can't stand it. I couldn't be happier for them. Bring on those babies... not a "McBaby" yet, but one day... hopefully....

This blog is dedicated to all my baby-filled friends: Crystal, Mandy, Somer, Kelly, Allison, Rachel (who just had her baby) and  the many others that I have forgotten (and some who probably haven't announced it, yet!)