i need a little christmas

Well, this is not the blog post I thought it would be one week ago as I prepared for my 4th weekend in a row of travel, stressed about finding the perfect outfit, got my real winter coat down from the attic, and completely overpacked for a 24 hour trip.

No, this is not that post at all. Because old man winter completely took over my weekend. That's right. That snow that damaged the Metrodome also damaged my 5th Annual Christmas Party plans. So while I did spend my 4th weekend in a row traveling (Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville, Houston). The day felt long, cold, and slightly depressing. So, by Sunday I was in need of a "little Christmas". So that's what I did. I started by putting on the Christmas tunes, lit some Christmas inspired candles, and began baking.

(okay, i didn't say baking from scratch. But I mixed, put them in the oven, and even added Hershey kisses. So that is baking, right?)

(and my outfit def. made it official.)

This is a peek at the McQuinn's holiday residence. Due to our "situation" (house being for sale) and the fact that I have yet to be home for a weekend and Matt works all the time, we opted not to decorate as we usually do. I have a feeling Matt was relieved by this. He had a lot less to bring down for the attic. 

As devastated as I felt about not making it to Minnesota it was a great reminder about friendship. It would have been ideal to have been present, but I was reminded about how blessed I am to have friends that can make me feel so loved from 1000 miles away. And no snowstorm can take that away.

I've got one.

DC

Hi.

I am tired.

And my to do list is insane.

And I am preparing for my 4th weekend in a row of travel.

To Minnesota.

For the 5th Annual Christmas Party.

So that makes me happy.

Here are pictures of an amazing time in Washington DC.

Just pictures. 

Because there was no room for words on the to-do list.

full of thanks.

I had a very exciting Thanksgiving for a lot of reasons. I had so much fun that I am having a hard time getting back to the "real" world. So to make this easier on everyone bullets and pictures will tell the story.

• I arrived in Chicago on Saturday, also known as Leena Ballerina's birthday. I got to meet her new baby Lumpy and then we had an amazing evening celebrating her and how fabulous she is. She is gorgeous, hilarious, smart, adorable, fashionable, sweet, a great dancer, and one of the kindest people I know. It was a pleasure to share in your birthday Kathleen. Can we do that again next year?

• I had a tremendous week filled with my best friends company. This included sleep overs with Misty, wine, food, laughter, amazing conversations... Did I mention this happened like daily?  I tried to savor each moment as it doesn't happen as often as I wish it could. It was a special week. And I left knowing it would happen again. And I am looking forward to it. very soon. (i also found myself talking about moving there a lot. all week long. as did my husband. that makes me happy)

• Fortunately, Matt was able to attend Thanksgiving this year. He flew in to Chicago on Wednesday, which was perfect timing for my birthday. I must say that I has one fabulous birthday this year. I have a feeling it was so special due to the magnificent people I was surrounded by. My twenty-eighth year is off to a great start...

• On Thursday, we traveled from Chicago to Iowa to spend our Thanksgiving with the McQuinn's. It was a great time to catch up with the family and meet that new lil' nephew of ours and be completely entertained with the other little darlings. We celebrated birthdays, a new baby, and gave thanks! 

• It was a pretty great feeling to spend time with McQuinn... (aka my husband). He has worked hard for a long time so I was thankful that he had the opportunity to visit with friends, take naps, and enjoy time with family. 

My Thanksgiving was a perfect reminder of all the things I am thankful for. I hope yours was too.

I am also thankful that this was captured on video. Enjoy. 

happy birthdays.

Matt's mother and my mother share birthdays only a few days apart. (Sarah's mom Ann celebrates, Nov. 23 and Matt's mom Betty celebrates, Nov. 27)  So we would like to wish them both a very happy birthday.

Matt and I both very blessed children to be raised by two such beautiful, compassionate, strong, smart, and amazing women. Someday we hope to take what they have taught us and share it with our children. someday.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Love,

Matt, Sarah, & Bella

nada

hi.

i don't have a lot of updates to share. because the mcquinn's are not currently up to much. we work a lot, but matt works more. we try to keep our house clean, but still manage to scramble or stay up entirely too late cleaning again every time we have a house showing. we try to keep our dog relatively happy. i think it is safe to say that she is happy. 

so in summary, house is still on the market, and mcquinn's still don't have the slightest where they are on to next or when they will go. 

so. I will share with you some past good times and some future ones.

Past

My last post was a happy birthday to my youngest (& only) sister. Although her birthday was on Monday and I was not with her, I did fly out to Tennessee the weekend before to surprise her. My brother Tyler picked me up from the airport and I managed to walk in behind him and "pop out" to surprise her. However, she had been calling me telling me she knew I would be coming but we all did our best to keep it a surprise until the very end.  Another very cool factor to the weekend was that I got to see lots of family. Grandpa and Grandma McGuire from Minnesota were visiting my parents and my Grandpa Clet and Uncle Troy came in on Saturday. The weekend went entirely too fast, but it was pretty special to be around so much loving family during such a special time. My siblings and I definitely had a good time and we are looking forward to the new legal status of all the schoenfelder children. Here are a few pictures of the weekend... 

Please note: I did a horrific job of documenting this weekend and I really think it was because we were having too much fun. I was around good company, eating good food, laughing, playing, and enjoying each moment. I just didn't want to be interrupted by the camera.

(this pretty much sums up my friday night. and saturday morning)



(she's 21. and adorable).

Future

Anxiously anticipating Saturday, November 20. Why, you ask? Well, for many reasons.

1. its the weekend

2. its Kathleen Schroeders birthday

3. and I get to spend it with her

Oh, and it gets even more exciting than that. 

I also get to spend my birthday in Chicago with two of my absolute best friends. 

I had taken the entire week off for thanksgiving months ago and then matt realized his schedule isn't what he thought it would be. So he suggested I take the time and spend it in Chicago ( i love that man). 

However, he still doesn't know what his thanksgiving schedule is. Doesn't know as in doesn't have a plane ticket or a plan about where to go. what to eat. nada. So at this point he could be joining me in chicago getting ready to head to Iowa to spend some quality time with the fam and meet that new adorable nephew or working and hopefully coming home to some interpretation of a thanksgiving feast. harsh. 
Update: Matt and I are both feeling thankful. He will be joining me and many lovely friends on wednesday in chicago and then we will head to our old stompin' grounds, Ankeny, Iowa to spend some time with family and meet that graham-cracker!


See ya in Chicago!

My little sister...

This is my little sister.

She is 21 years old today!

It's a big day and I have a sneaking suspicion she has been waiting for this day for a while now.

Right now, she is ordering alcoholic beverages and proudly showing her ID to anyone who cares to see it.

I am hoping by the end of the night she is yelling phrases like, "It's my birthday." Although in all honesty, that sounds like something I would do, not Aly-oh-so.

Aly-oh-so,
You are oh-so sweet, oh-so hilarious, oh-so gorgeous, oh-so intelligent, oh-so charming, oh-so fashionable, oh-so kind, oh-so hip, oh-so interesting. I am oh-so happy to call you my sister and my friend. (no lie).

I love you little sister.

I wish I could be at the "local establishments" with Aly, the 21 year old tonight, yelling things like, "It's my sister's birthday". But I did have the opportunity to spend a memorable weekend with her, leading up to this momentous event. And I am so looking forward to spending some time with her in the near future. Maybe at one of those "local establishments" she is at tonight.

Happy Birthday Alysa Marie.

boo.

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone had a thrilling holiday whether you were out in disguise or watching horror movies and eating candy.
Since Matt and I have been married we have an annual pumpkin carving contest. This was the 5th Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest. Matt tends to dominate this contest. He has 3 wins under his belt. Which leaves Sarah with 1, until this year. Yep, I am the champion. Here is what the competition looked like this year. 





Matt got a little ahead of himself and posed as the winner for the 4th time. Sorry babe, not this year.

Halloween was a little different at the McQuinn house this year. Matt's work schedule continues to be, well, frightening seems like the appropriate description since this is a Halloween post. He worked ALL day long. By all day, I mean he left at 4 in the morning and when I left the house at 10:15 pm, he was still not home. I am hoping he has the opportunity to catch up on some sleep and just relax sometime soon, but I am not sure if that is realistic.
So Matt's Halloween celebration stops at pumpkin carving. But the rest of the McQuinn's had costumes.

Bella received a package a week ago with a lady bug costume (thanks mom!)
can't you tell how much she loves it.


I did love my costume. It was probably the most comfortable costume I have ever worn. 

This is Brandi. She is my fabulous coworker. I don't know how I got so lucky to work with somebody I adore so much, but I'll take it.
If you know where we work and what we do, you will fully appreciate the irony.

We had a lot of fun with it. And managed to not get "locked up".

confession

WARNING: Prepare yourself for a very random post.





I love this commercial.

My confession: I break out in dance every time it is on.

(and if you know me very well you know that I require a lot of stimuli and more than likely the tv is on in some room of my house, so this can happen quite often.)

Bella would totally vouch for this dancing.

This is how she looks at me when I dance.

I totally want to go to this party.
If you know me, you know I love to dance.
And this looks like a killah dance party.

And I totally wish freckles were like glitter.

I told you this post was random.

Happy Hump Day.

Graham Michael

This is Graham Michael Haines.

He is new to this big world.

And he is the nephew of Matt and I. 

Lucky guy, huh?

Marcie (Matt's younger sister) and Chad were blessed with this little bundle of joy on October, 11th. It seems like we have been waiting to meet him for such a long time. Unfortunately, Matt and I may have to wait until the holidays to officially meet Graham Cracker (Marcie, I already have a nickname, I hope you don't mind...) but I think he will understand.

Marcie remained amazingly calm through her entire pregnancy and actually so did Chad (the idea still makes Matt and I nervous, so Matt and I were impressed with their confidence). So it really should have been no surprise that she was texting during labor and making phone calls, sounding like her sweet little self, following the delivery of her first child. Did I mention he was 9lb, 5 oz and 22 inches. 

Graham Cracker, 

Welcome to this big world. You are blessed with two amazing parents that have an abundance of love to share with you throughout your life as well as a family that will provide you with lots of love, support, laugher,and special memories. We look forward to sharing in all of that, but most of all, bearing witness to who you become in this big beautiful world.

God Speed Little Man.

Uncle Matt & Aunt Sarah

xoxo