Sweet Heart Tag

Suzanne Morris tagged me, so here are my answers.





What's his name? Thomas Jefferson Schell

How long have you been married? 8 years this May. Time flies!

How long did you date? Technically 1 year, but 9 months of it was “long distance” (He was in NC, I was in UT).

How old is he? 31.

Who eats more? I could eat more, but he probably does eat more.

Who is taller? Tom…for sure.

Who said 'I love you' first? Sadly, I don’t remember at all, but I would assume he did.

Who does the laundry? Most of the time I do, since I stay at home. He does occasionally. But Tom definitely folds laundry better than I do…so when I can get him to help me it’s great. I always have to put it away though.

Who does the dishes? I do them at least 90% (or more) of the time, but it is supposed to be his job since I do the cooking. He goes through spurts where he does them though.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me

Who cooks dinner? Thankgoodness, I do. Tom dislikes cooking.

Who sings better? Tom definitely has the better voice, but he is not so good at remembering the words. He can make up words to any song at the touch of a hat…and generally its about me.

Who drives when you are together? Tom for sure, except since he got his eye surgery. I have been driving a lot lately.

Who is more stubborn? Probably me, but it depends on the subject at hand.

Who is smarter? I’d say we’re pretty equal, but again it depends on the subject.

Who kissed who first? Tom….but I followed up with a few of my own.

Who asked who out first? Tom. I’m sort of old fashioned that way.

Who proposed? Tom. He surprised me and flew to Utah on New Years Eve (1999-2000). I had no idea he was coming. He called me on his cell phone and pretended to be in NC and told me to go outside so we could look up at the same moon. I found a suitcase on the doorstep and ran past to look for him (he was hiding around the corner of the my sister’s house). The ring box was sitting open on the suitcase with the ring in it in hopes I would see it first. I just wanted to see Tom though. It was the best surprise ever!!!

Who is more sensitive? I think we are equally sensitive, but I probably cry more easily.

Who has more friends? Me

Who has more siblings? I have 7…he has 5…so I win.

Who wears the pants in the family? Tom does.

Tom, I love you! Thanks for putting up with me. I am going to be lonely without you.


P.S. Now I tag Rachel Westhoff, Kim Golding, and Kathy Casperson.

Eye Surgery

A couple weeks ago Tom and I went to San Antonio... again. It was a long drive this time though, and we took Wesley with us. Tom wanted to get refractive surgery before he leaves to go over to Iraq. He ended up getting PRK, because he wasn't a good candidate for Lasik...so it has been a little bit more of a recovery. He got the surgery about ten days ago now, and his vision is still very unstable (and may be for 2-3 months). Some times he can see very clearly, but sometimes he says his vision is very foggy (which, I am told, is different from blurry...just so you all know). I am excited for him to be able to see better for good. He even will be happy if he still has to wear glasses, just so they aren't 2 inches thick anymore.

The weather in San Antonio was beautiful. I love the South in the winter. Here are some pictures of Wesley. He is at that awkward stage where you don't want them crawling around in the dirt, but they can't walk yet. That's why he is outside the visiting officers quarters (VOQ) in his pac 'n play. He started out happy....and it went downhill from there.

"Oh wow, it is great to be outside again!"

"Hey, Mom, gimme that camera!"

"Man, I love this weather."

"Mom, get me out of here now!"

Sad News

Tom is getting deployed to Iraq this spring. He will be there for 15 months. He leaves in April to go to Louisiana for a month of training first. I have been putting off blogging about it because I wanted to make sure it was really going to happen. Plus, putting it in writing and telling everyone makes it more real. It is going to be a long year, but we have great friends and family to support us so we will make it.

A President's Day Visit

We had a fun President's Day weekend. Our friends Jeff and Melody Kingsley came to visit us all the way from Dayton, Ohio. We met them and became good friends in Birmingham, AL, when Tom was going to Optometry school. They had just married when we met and our Reili was only 8 months old at the time. My how time flies!! Now they have two beautiful little girls. Maya is Amberly's age and baby Reili (named after our Reili) is Wesley's age.

It was so fun to get together again and just like old times. The kids played together and we had a lot of fun just hanging out. We watched movies, played games, took the girls swimming, and ate a bunch of great food (and generally too much ice cream).

Here are the five kids all in a row.

Baby Reili and Wesley. Reili is 3 months younger, but very petite, so Wesley is huge compared to her.

Maya and Amberly (buddies most of the time).

The two Reilis. Our Reili just couldn't get enough of baby Reili.

Melody and Jeff we miss you! Thanks for coming to visit.

Reili Turns Six

On February 12, Reili turned 6 years old (I'm a little behind on posting because so much has been going on). She was so excited to be six finally (she is already asking when she will be 6 and 1/2).

For her special birthday breakfast, Reili chose to have Barbie poptarts. The girls both love these, so Amberly was excited too.

Reili got to choose two friends to have over for dinner and her birthday cake. This is Reili and Amberly with Reili's good friend Bailey on the girls bed. I wanted to get a picture of their new bedspread. I think it is so cute!

She wanted a pumpkin cake for her Birthday. I found this one in a magazine, so she decided on it. It turned out well. She loved it. I forced Tom to get in the picture with her, since he is almost never in pictures (and complains about it).

Tom got this good picture of Reili blowing out her candles.

Here are Reili and her two friends, Teagan and Bailey, after she blew out her candles. What cute girls! Happy Birthday Reili!