The Shopoff Showoff

More Scrapbookin'

2011-02-23T23:20:00.002-06:00

Here's my second digital scrapbook layout. I'm not loving it as much as the first, but I'm still pretty happy with it.

Adventures in Digital Scrapbooking

2011-02-20T23:59:00.004-06:00

I have decided, after thinking about this for quite a few months, to get started with digital scrapbooking. I knew I would be working on Hud's scrapbook and knew that I would never get it finished if I had to drag out all of the supplies everytime I wanted to work on it. Thus, the digital scrapbooking begins...

All I can say is...WOW! I LOVE digital scrapbooking. I am working with Photoshop(which I have ALWAYS loved) and lots of free scrapbooking kits I've downloaded. I finished my first layout this weekend, and am started on my second. It is so much fun! Here it is:

The Long-Awaited Arrival of Baby Shop

2010-10-05T21:40:00.020-05:00

So after waiting and waiting and...more waiting, Baby Shop finally arrived on July 30th(with a little jump-start by my midwives). I have sat down many times over the past two months to write this post and it has just never gotten finished. I want to share the story of our sweet baby's birth so here it is...

Before I start though, this is your warning that if you do not want to hear details and see pictures about birth, you may not want to read this. No really, go away if you don't want to read it.

Okay, you are still reading, so here goes. The story begins on Tuesday, July 27th, when I woke early in the morning with contractions. I was 40 weeks and 4 days and was sure hoping this was finally it. I started to realize that the contractions were 10 minutes apart and pretty regular. I continued to doze off and on for a few hours until I finally got up to watch a little tv. After a while, I went back to bed for an hour or so until Patrick woke up. My contractions had not gotten any closer together or stronger, so I sent Patrick off to work. I spent much of the morning doing a few things around the house and relaxing before I decided to go walk at the mall. When walking at the mall, I had many contractions but they were not regular and not getting any stronger. After more than an hour of walking, I came back home to find that my contractions had stopped altogether...this wasn't it. At first I was bummed but then I just reminded myself that at most I would be pregnant for another week or so. After 40 weeks, one week seems like nothing.

I woke up Wednesday, July 28th, with no contractions whatsoever and spent the day with very few irregular contractions. I knew that my appointment with the midwives at the Birth and Women's Center was on the following day so I made sure I did everything I could to start labor naturally. I did lots and lots and lots of walking, ate spicy foods, took my evening primrose oil(as I had for several weeks), and even went to the chiropractor for a third session of acupressure massage and acupuncture...nothing.

On Thursday, July 29th, I had an appointment at the Birth and Women's Center in downtown Dallas. I had zero contractions going on so I decided to send Patrick on to work and had my friend, Erica, take me to my appointment. Upon arriving they started discussing induction with me and I realized Patrick would need to be there, so I called and he left work. After much deliberation and a lot of denial on my part, we decided that I needed to try and get labor started with induction. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for several weeks and had been 50% effaced for 4 weeks, but it had not resulted in any dilation. We knew that if we continued to wait, it might mean a pitocin induction at the hospital which I wanted to avoid. On top of that, I had dropped a few pounds, which could mean that I was beginning to lose amniotic fluid. After calling my childbirth instructor and my mother-in-law(a doula) to discuss the pros and cons, Patrick and I decided that we would induce with cytotec, a drug used to soften the cervix and promote dilation. Around 12:30, the midwives placed the cytotec on my cervix and inserted a foley catheter which is basically a balloon filled with water that helps place pressure on the cervix. After monitoring me for an hour and checking Baby Shop's response to the contractions, they sent me home to labor and rest. They told me that if nothing had happened by 9:00 the next morning, they would want me to come back.

Once home around 3:00 or so, I found that I was beginning to experience a great deal of pain. The midwives had explained that cytotec basically irritates the uterus and causes it to cramp and contract. I felt like I was constantly cramping and therefore it was hard to really time the true contractions. I spent the next few hours distracting myself with the tv, resting on the couch with hot rice socks, sitting on the birthing ball, and walking around to manage the pain. It was at this time that I realized how thankful I was that Patrick and I had completed the Bradley Childbirth Class with Linda Worzer of Natural Beginnings. Patrick was a fantastic coach throughout the entire process.

Around 7:00 or so(once I got into "Labor Land", I really lost track of time), I decided I needed something more to help me manage the pain and I got into a warm bath to relax. Wow...what a difference the warm water made! I found that I was much more comfortable and I finally relaxed. An hour or so later, my foley catheter came out on its own. I called the midwife, Carol, and asked her what this meant. She said that I was probably at around 3 or 4 centimeters dilated...I was thrilled! This was finally it! There was progress! Because we were still waiting for my contractions to reach 5-1-1(5 minutes apart, 1 minute in duration, for 1 hour), Carol asked me to keep timing the contractions and keep her updated. The next few hours are a blur...I got in the water for a while longer, rested on the bed, and eventually ended up lying on the floor trying to find a comfortable position. It was around 10:30 or so that I told Patrick to call his mom and ask her what we should do...I was beginning to feel a great deal of pain and I wasn't sure if we should call Carol to head down to the birth center. My contractions seemed to be less than 3 minutes apart, but they were still only 30-45 seconds long so we weren't sure what to do. My mother-in-law always told me that you could just listen to a woman in labor and know when it was getting close because the sounds they make change very distinctly(just the fact that I could no longer talk on the phone was a sign that this was for real and we were getting close). While Patrick was on the phone with his mom and she was telling him we might better call Carol, my water broke. I was elated...it was just the sign I needed to know that we could head down to the birth center and welcome Baby Shop into the world. We called Carol, our parents, and our photographer, Ashley Langford(super awesome wedding photographer, also...check him out) and we headed down to the birth center in downtown Dallas.

While I always knew that the birth center was a long drive from Frisco(I mean, we practically live closer to Oklahoma than we do to downtown Dallas...haha), I could not have prepared myself for how long the trip felt that night. It was thankfully 11:00 p.m. and the tollway was completely empty. I know Patrick was trying not to speed(especially as he passed a cop) but he was anxious to get me there since he could tell I was in a great deal of pain. I was breathing through my contractions and focusing on what I knew would be the outcome of the pain...our sweet Baby Shop would arrive! This helped me to manage, but I knew for sure that I was in the last stage of labor, transition. My contractions were essentially on top of each other and I felt like there was little rest. I remember when we got close to the birth center, Patrick stopped at a red light and I almost came unglued, "Just go!!!" haha I think it was the only time I really yelled at him through the entire process so I consider this a huge success. We arrived at the birth center at midnight and were met by our families and photographer.

Carol, our midwife, was there and she checked my progress and told me that I was 5-6 centimeters dilated. This was the only moment in the whole thing where I thought, "What am I thinking trying to do this without drugs?" I was SURE that I was in transition which is usually 8-10 centimeters. I started to doubt my ability to handle transition if I was already in so much pain at 5-6 centimeters. I decided the only solution was to get in the warm bath. I spent the next 30-45 minutes relaxing in the bath while my contractions continued one on top of the other. Ashley, our photographer, was in there to capture a few shots. At around 1:00 a.m., I suddenly felt my body begin to push and I told Patrick that I needed Carol right away. When Carol returned, I told her that I felt like pushing and she told me to get out of the bath while she got things ready. The birth assistant, Beverly, had not yet arrived and I know Carol was rushing about trying to get everything together as it seemed that Baby Shop was coming quickly after waiting for almost 41 weeks to arrive.

I spent the next half hour pushing, part of the time while squatting and part of the time reclining on the bed. After all of the contractions, pushing was actually a relief and I had time to rest in between.

At 1:36 a.m., Hudson Thomas Shopoff arrived safely into the arms of his daddy who got to catch him, announce "It's a boy", and hand him to me. We spent the next hour or so staring at our baby and snuggling before Hudson decided he was hungry and started to nurse.

The midwife then weighed and measured him with Patrick's help. Hudson was born at 6 lbs. 14 oz. and 21.5 inches long...a long, skinny guy(shocker, right?)

We were thrilled at Hudson's arrival and we celebrated with a toast of sparkling cider. His grandparents were all glad to be present to enjoy the special event.

At this point, I was very weak and tired after losing a good amount of blood during delivery. The midwives had stitched me up, but they knew I needed to eat, so they sent my parents out to an all-night diner to grab food for Patrick and I. I ate my omelette and began to feel a lot better, but was still exhausted. While I rested, Patrick got to give Hudson his first bath. I remember hearing everybody talking about how much Hudson was enjoying the bath, but I could hardly keep my eyes open long enough to see. Thankfully, it was captured on video so I was able to watch it later when I was more awake. After a little rest, I got up to shower. I was very light-headed so it took me a little while and I was fully exhausted by the time it was over, but it felt wonderful to get clean.

After bathtime for Hudson and a shower for me, Hudson was dressed and swaddled up and our family of three settled in for a nap. We rested for several hours before Hudson and I were given a clean bill of health and we packed up to go home. Driving home with our baby boy was incredibly surreal....although I was absolutely exhausted, I couldn't have been any happier.

At around 9 a.m. on Friday, July 30th, one week after my due date, less than 24 hours after my induction, and 9 short hours after our arrival at the birth center, I was resting happily at home with our precious 8-hour-old son, Hudson. Hudson's arrival was everything I hoped it would be, and I felt a certain sense of strength as a woman for bringing him into this world in the way I did. Mommyhood is definitely one of God's greatest gifts and no doubt one of life's greatest challenges.

A special thanks to:

Carol Bunker- our awesome midwife who delivered our adorable baby boy, Hudson

Beverly Hook - the super sweet birth assistant who helped after Hudson's arrival

Ashley Langford - our fantastic photographer who drove all the way down to downtown in the middle of the night

Linda Worzer - the best childbirth educator ever

Baby Pool!

2010-07-25T20:57:00.001-05:00

As the belly grows...

2010-07-13T19:18:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe that our due date is 10 days away! I absolutely love being pregnant, and I really have very few complaints even now as it is almost 100 degrees outside and I'm carrying around 30 extra pounds. How blessed I have been! Here are the latest photos:

34 weeks!

36 weeks!

38 weeks!

Nursery Reveal

2010-07-08T13:00:00.004-05:00

The time has arrived for the big nursery reveal! Thanks to my wonderful family for all of the help with painting, refinishing the dresser, more painting, and decorating. It feels so wonderful to have it finished, and I know that Baby Shop will love it. Now we are just waiting for him/her to make his/her arrival! Here are the photos:

I know that the next two pictures look almost identical...
but this is what it will look like if it is Hudson's room.

And this is what it will look like if it's Berklee's room.

Make sure you leave me a comment and tell me what you think of the nursery!

Baby Shop Gender Poll!

2010-06-07T10:32:00.000-05:00

Watch the Bump Grow!

2010-06-07T10:20:00.005-05:00

Figured I'd upload my belly pics so you can watch the baby bump grow...enjoy!

26 weeks!

28 weeks!

30 weeks!

32 weeks!

Baby Shop's Photo Op

2010-03-25T19:03:00.002-05:00

We had a sonogram this week at about 22 1/2 weeks...it was great to see Baby Shop and how he/she is developing. I'm so glad that he/she was not showing off too much, and we were able to keep our secret a secret. I know everybody thinks I'm crazy but we are so excited about waiting to find out if our little one is a boy or girl, and I know it will be worth it when July arrives and he/she makes an appearance!

Baby Shop is measuring right at about where is expected. His/her legs are measuring slightly ahead the rest of him/her, but I guess it could just be that long legs are in the genes. :c) It was amazing to watch the movement in the sonogram...the tongue sticking in and out, the chambers of the heart beating, the baby kicking and wiggling in response to pressure from the ultrasound machine. I don't know how anybody can watch something like that and not believe in a miracle-creating God!

Since my last post about the pregnancy, Baby Shop has become very active. I will feel movement quite a bit throughout the day, but more when I'm sitting or lying down where I can really pay attention to it. Patrick has been able to even feel a few little kicks on my belly over the past two weeks. It's quite an amazing thing! What's not amazing is the rib pain I have started to have as they are spreading to create room. I'm thinking it's time for some prenatal yoga and a chiropractor visit. Thankfully, I know that I have a baby on the way and it makes all of this worth it! Here are some photos of our little one...

Baby Bump Update!

2010-03-25T18:57:00.005-05:00

Alright...it's been a while since I posted, so I wanted to update you on the baby bump. Here's what's going on...

18 weeks!

20 weeks -- halfway there!

22 weeks!

Baby Shop!

2010-02-06T19:43:00.009-06:00

Patrick and I are just thrilled that we will be having a baby join our family in July! It's hard to believe that there is a teensy-tiny human being inside me right now. This week at 16 weeks, he/she is the size of an avocado but has eye lashes, eye color, fingernails, taste buds, and hair. I mean...it's a complete person in there, just a very very small one.

I'm going to do my best in the coming months and years to keep this blog updated. I think it'll be a lot easier when I have an adorable little one to post stories and pics about. I want to use this to track all of the fun little things that happen as our little one grows.

So, I'm going to go back in time here and track my pregnancy thus far. We found out we were pregnant on November 15th. I woke up for a bathroom break at 2:30 that morning and suspecting that I might be pregnant, decided to take a test. It was positive! I couldn't believe it so I rubbed my eyes a few times and decided to take another test just to be sure and once again, it was positive. My family was in town for a family photo shoot, but I didn't want to tell them until I'd gotten a chance to tell Patrick and have a sonogram. So...what's a girl to do when she finds out she's pregnant at 2:30 a.m.? Go back to bed! haha Surprisingly, I was so incredibly tired during early pregnancy that I really did to back to sleep without ever waking my sweet hubby. When my family left later in the day, I sent Patrick an e-card with a picture of the positive test in it. He couldn't believe it...we were both thrilled! And this began the long period of keeping a secret when all we wanted to do was tell everybody we knew!

I had a doctor's appointment a week or so later to confirm pregnancy and set up a sonogram. My doctor decided to do an early ultrasound to make sure we had an accurate due date, so we set that up for the next Wednesday, December 2nd. It was so incredible for Patrick and I to see our little embryo complete with a strong heartbeat beating at 142 bpm. I was 5 weeks, 5 days pregnant.

With it being December, we decided to wait until Christmas when we would be able to see our families in person to tell them our exciting news. This was incredibly hard! It was well worth the wait when we saw their faces after they opened their "gift"...a wrapped picture frame with a sonogram picture in it. All of our family members were just thrilled! It will be the third grandchild for Patrick's parents and the first for my parents. It will be the 1st great-grandchild for my dad's parents and the ninth(yes, ninth) great-grandchild for my mom's parents! What a great family this baby will be surrounded by! It was nice to have the secret out so we could finally tell all of our friends. Here's a picture of the gift...

During the first trimester, I was...STARVING! I mean...I can't believe how much food I could put away in a day and still find myself hungry. I was eating every two hours even through lots of nausea. As long as I ate before getting out of bed, and ate before I felt hungry, I kept myself from becoming good friends with the toilet. :c) I was also extremely, extremely tired. I'm used to being "tired"(especially after a week with 22 active 1st graders) and I enjoy naps more than most. However, usually I can "fight through" my exhaustion when I have things that simply must be done. This was not the case during the first few weeks of pregnancy. I was so exhausted that I would just lie on the couch from the time I got home until I went to bed. Dinner was often whatever could be made quickly and easily or whatever Patrick could pick up or make. Completing grad school assignments was a chore, because all I wanted to do was sleep. Thankfully, I will be done with my last class in a few short months.

During this time, I found myself unable to eat several things: eggs, chicken that I made at home(I could eat grilled chicken or chicken nuggets out, but something about the smell of it cooking in the house would send me over the edge), and sweets(which is terribly sad during Thanksgiving and Christmas). Pretty much any strong smell made me feel sick...these could be bad smells(trash) or good smells(Bath & Body Works), but if it was strong, it was going to make my stomach turn.

I also found myself having a few cravings during this time: chocolate milk, Taco Bell(I know...yuck!), yogurt, pizza, and pickles. I had chocolate milk at least once a day for about a month. I'm still eating pickles constantly in the second trimester, but that is really the only craving that has stuck around.

One day when I was a little more than 11 weeks pregnant, I woke up and realized that I hadn't woken up starving in the middle of the night. I went throughout the day without ever feeling nauseous and for the first time in weeks, I didn't need a nap when I got home. I thought..."Man, I hope this lasts!" Sure enough, that was the beginning of what everybody says is the best part of pregnancy...the time around the 2nd trimester when you start to feel less tired and nauseous. Later on, my midwife confirmed that women often experience this shift around 11 1/2 weeks...that's right when it happened for me.

In early January, Patrick and I decided to tour a few birth centers. Both Allen Birth Center and the Birth and Women's Center in Dallas were simply amazing! I knew that I wanted to deliver in one of these places. For me, it's a personal decision based on the fact that I believe God created women for bringing babies into the world. As long as I am not high-risk and I have a healthy pregnancy, I see no reason to deliver in a hospital where there are such restrictions and birth is so medicalized. At a birth center, I'll be able to walk around, eat, and get into showers or baths to help with the pain. I know that this environment will support me as I give birth naturally without medications. So, I am now settled in with the midwives, Carol and Cheri, at the Birth and Women's Center in Dallas. It is about 2 blocks from Baylor Dallas so I have a great hospital for backup if I need it. I feel very much at peace and I know I'm where God wants me to be.

We have decided not to find out if we are having a boy or a girl, so we will be very surprised when July comes around! I am very excited about waiting because I think it's going to make the birth day very fun! We will probably do lime green and brown in the nursery and then add hot pink if it's a girl. We're still deciding though...will post pics when we get it started.

So, I am 16 weeks pregnant now. I only have a few complaints about this stage of pregnancy. Mostly, I am tired of the sinus problems I have due to the fact that I am making more mucus than like 5 people should all together. As soon as I get it cleared up, it turns into a nasty cough. Hopefully it will go away soon, but I've heard that it could last for the rest of the pregnancy, so we'll see. My only other complaint is the fact that I lack a "pregnancy glow"...unless you call an oily acne-covered face that looks like that of a high schooler a "glow". The hormones have sent my face into chaos, so hopefully that will clear up soon and I'll be able to truly glow.

Here are the two baby bump pics that I have so far, along with my toilet paper square measurements. This was an idea I saw on my pregnancy message board and I am tracking my belly growth with toilet paper squares each week.

13 weeks - end of first trimester
8 toilet paper squares around the belly

16 weeks
Almost 9 toilet paper squares around the belly

We made it...

2009-08-10T19:34:00.017-05:00

to the top of Half Dome! And wow...what a hike! This is my first of several posts about the Shopoff vacation to Yosemite last week, but I thought I'd start out by telling you about one of the most physically challenging things I've ever done.

On Friday, August 7th, at 5 a.m., nine of the Shopoff clan set out to hike to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Patrick's dad, his three uncles, three of his cousins, and the two of us loaded up our backpacks with all of our hiking supplies and drove out to the trailhead in the valley. This is where our hike began. Now I could write a huge description of the hike, but I don't know that it would paint a proper picture of what we did that day. Instead, let me start with some facts that help you understand the Half Dome hike:

Half Dome elevation: 8800 feet
Elevation gain from valley to peak: 4,800 feet(yes, as in almost a mile)
Distance from valley to peak: 8.2 miles
Total distance to complete hike: 16.4 miles
Numbers of hours to complete hike: 10-12 hours
Number of people who make it to the top each year: 50,000
Best description: "Half Dome is the ultimate Yosemite day hike - the one you can't die without doing, and the one you're most likely to die while doing"(yosemitehikes.com).

If that isn't enough to get your attention, check out this picture of the final 400 feet of the ascent to the peak of Half Dome:
Yes, you actually climb to the peak of Half Dome by holding on to two cables mounted to the face of the granite.

Now that you know that the hike is like, let me tell you about our experience. It was a beautiful morning with fantastic cool weather. We set out on our hike from the trailhead in the valley at around 6 a.m. and immediately, we began to climb. The beginning of the trail consisted of very large granite steps, beautiful waterfalls, and stunning views of the sun rising on Half Dome.

The next part of the hike consisted of very sandy trail and less climb. We saw some beautiful mule deer and reached the halfway point to the top during this period.

Mile 4 - halfway up!

The final part of the hike was the climb up quarter dome, a mixture of granite steps and rocky trail, and then the final ascent up the cables on to the peak of Half Dome. This was by far the hardest part of the hike, both physically and mentally. You are left very exposed on the face of the granite as you climb and it can be very scary!

And at last...........WE MADE IT!!! We were awarded with some beautiful views of the valley.

How awesome is it that these guys are still climbing

mountains in their 50s and 60s?

After spending a little time on top of Half Dome, it was time to head back down. We ate our lunch on quarter dome before beginning the trip back down to the valley. Due to a small miscommunication, it took us 1 1/2 hours longer than expected to get back to the trailhead. However, we still made it to the car only 11 hours after starting our hike, which totaled around 18 miles round-trip with the added trek to and from the parking lot. I was very proud, very exhausted, and very sore. Overall, it was well worth the climb. It was a day of fun, physical challenge, and celebration...just another day with the Shopoffs, I guess.

"The mountains are calling..."

2009-05-31T17:51:00.006-05:00

"...and I must go." ~ John Muir

Patrick and I have been talking about going camping for months but we just haven't found the time. We spontaneously decided late this week that this weekend was the perfect chance for us to go camping. We made a last-minute decision on Friday to go to Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas.

It was a beautiful drive and the views from the campground were just gorgeous! We had a great time hiking, playing Skip-Bo(which of course...I won), and enjoying the scenery. Kaiko was quite a trooper and put up with the long hikes and car ride. She even made up for last time when she wasn't such a guard dog(see A Camping We Will Go) by catching herself a chipmunk. Poor little guy! Here are some pics of our adventures...

View from our tent...

Enjoying the view...

A cool old train on our campground...

Family Picture :c)

Thanksgiving with the Shopoffs

2008-12-07T19:27:00.010-06:00

Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite times of year. I mean, of course it is...it's all of my favorite things in one place...family, food, and football. This year we spent the holiday with the Shopoff family in Austin. We had an excellent Thanksgiving dinner(thanks to all of the awesome Shopoff cooks) followed by an even-better beating of the Aggies(sorry, Jeanie...but not really...ha!) Hook 'em horns! Here are some pictures from the trip!

Yes, the band did march off the field and leave their shoes

there to spell out "TEXAS"...awesome! ha!

My Awesome Hubby

2008-09-18T20:19:00.010-05:00

I know that I haven't written in FOREVER, and yes, in case you were wondering, I do realize that I seem to say that each time I put up a post! ha! I figured I would use this special day as a good reason to get my posts going again...it's my hubby's 27th birthday today! Patrick is such an awesome husband and I thank God each and everyday for him. Here's why he's so great...

Top 12 Reasons My Husband Rocks(One for each month of the year)

12. He does the dishes! This seems so silly and little but it means so much to me. After a long day of work, I come home and cook and I don't mind it at all because I know that he is going to help by cleaning up the mess! We have had a "you cook, I clean" agreement since we were dating, and it has always been such a blessing to me.

11. He brings me little "surprises" on his way home from work. It might be a special dessert or my favorite yummy orange 'n cream soda, but it could be just about anything and I would love it because it is from him and it's such a sweet thing to do.

10. He makes me laugh! Even when I'm having a rough day or I'm not feeling well, he can get me laughing to the point of stitches in my sides and tears in my eyes. These are the moments life is about!

9. He buys great, meaningful birthday and Christmas gifts. This is definitely not something I take for granted because I know that it is not a strength among the male population(no offense, guys!) Patrick is not one to usually buy a gift card. He really takes time(even if that is on Christmas Eve when he finally gets around to shopping) to pick out a present for someone that would be special for that specific person.

8. We have fun together! We love many of the same things...hiking, camping, football, Christian music, board games, and Wii...and those things are just twice as sweet when we can enjoy them together.

7. He takes care of me when I am sick. What an awesome job he does at this! When I'm not feeling well, he is quick to jump to my rescue and wait on my every need. I feel like a princess! A very sick...unattractive...whiny...okay, so not like a princess at all...but I digress.

6. He works hard to support our family. Patrick may not absolutely love what he is doing at his job(yet!), but nonetheless, he gets up and works hard each day for us. I appreciate him!

5. He is just so handsome! I love to just look at my hubby's gorgeous eyes ,. He is my dream come true!

4. He loves and values family. Patrick and I have both been blessed with awesome families, and I think it is just so great that we both love and enjoy time with our "in-laws"(you know you've heard the "in-law" horror stories...you've seen Everybody Loves Raymond...you know the notoriety of the dreaded "in-law" visits).

3. He is the spiritual leader of our family. Patrick does a great job in leading us in every aspect of our relationship, but especially in our spiritual relationship with God and each other.

2. He not only tells, but also shows, that he loves me each and everyday. There is never a day that goes by that I do not know in my heart of hearts that I am loved and treasured by my husband.

1. He loves God more than me. Patrick and I joke sometimes by saying, "Honey, you're my #2!" The great thing is that it's true. I know without a doubt that no matter how much he loves me, he loves Our Father more and that brings me true joy.

Happy 27th Birthday, Patrick!
I love you!

Happy Independence Day!!!

2008-07-17T08:34:00.019-05:00

I know...I know...it's late to still be talking about Independence Day but late is better than never, right? I've been meaning to get these pictures up but I just haven't done it.

Patrick and I had a great 4th of July this year because we got to spend the holiday with Patrick's brother and sister-in-law and our beautiful niece, Courtney. What a wonderful time! On Friday, we spent the day relaxing and catching up before we went to a BBQ at our friends' house. We had a yummy dinner and lots of fun chatting with everybody.

We then headed off to watch the Frisco fireworks show at Pizza Hut Park. What a show it was! Courtney had previously been very scared of fireworks, but this time she really seemed to enjoy them. She was very excited when she saw the pink ones because "pink is my paborite color"(she hasn't quite mastered the 'f' sound. Too cute!) The"pireworks" were gorgeous. Here's a few pictures of the night.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a nice brunch and then headed to the park. Even though it was still fairly early in the afternoon, it was already blazing hot. We enjoyed some time at the playground before heading home for some rest and cold water.

After resting a while, we decided to take Courtney to the Dallas World Aquarium(if you haven't been, you should go...love that place!). She was so excited and kept saying that she wanted to find a "pink pish because pink is her paborite color". How adorable is that! Here are some pictures of our adventures at the park and the aquarium. Thanks for coming to visit us Michael, Christie, and Courtney!

Time for Catch-up

2008-06-11T08:51:00.014-05:00

I know that it has been FOREVER since my last post and I apologize. Patrick and I have been so busy ever since moving into our new house in March. It seems that every weekend is another project...

I wanted to give you a few updates on what's been going on. First of all, we tiled our guest bathroom(with help from my awesome Uncle Terry) and it looks GREAT! Unfortunately, I don't have the "before" pictures because they are on Terry's camera. I do have the "after" pictures for you to admire. Before you do though, you have to imagine a dingy, yellow-tinted linoleum floor on the bathroom(do you have an ugly picture in your head yet?) Now, look at this improvement...

Now that the tile in the guest bathroom is completed, it's time for us to tile our master bathroom and the laundry room(more weekend projects!) I know it's going to look great in the end and be well worth all of the hard work. Thanks, Uncle Terry!

In the midst of all of this hard work, Patrick and I took an evening for ourselves to celebrate our FIRST ANNIVERSARY! I know what you're thinking...what?! Already?! Us too! The year has flown by and what a great one it has been! Here's a look back on some highlights that happened in our first year of marriage(I'm sure I'll forget lots of stuff...sorry)...

June 2nd, 2007 - We got married

June 4th-10th, 2007 - We honeymooned in Vancouver...GORGEOUS!

July 7th, 2007 - What a day! Shopoff family adds one when Heather marries Kevin AND McHam family adds one when Ashley marries Justin

August 27th, 2007 - Jessica starts her new job as a 1st grade teacher in Frisco ISD

November 29th-December 2nd 2007 - We visit grad schools in Georgia to check out the idea of moving there

December 15th, 2007 - Shopoff family adds ANOTHER when Jeanie marries Brien

December 22nd, 2007 - McHam family adds ANOTHER when Casey marries Josh

February 2008 - We decide not to go to Georgia and start looking around at houses

March 12th, 2008 - We close on our first home!

June 2nd, 2008 - We celebrate our 1st anniversary!

As you can see, we spent much of our year at other people's weddings and wedding showers...ha! What a special year it was for both of our families! Here's a picture of us on our anniversary...

Some of you may remember back to when I posted a few months ago about discovering baby bunnies in our yard, and now we have discovered more wildlife. Under our front patio, some birds have created a nest and now it is full of baby birdies. Patrick laughs at me but sometimes I'll stand in the front entrance and look through the window and watch them. They're so interesting to me! I even decided to take some pictures...here are a few.

Now that you've gotten the random updates from the past few months, hopefully we can stay a little more up-to-date. Since it's summer, I have a little more time to sit around and work on this. Speaking of summer, I should probably go enjoy some of it before it flies by...

A Camping We Will Go

2008-04-25T18:42:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, we decided to take a break from the weekend house-projects and spend a weekend camping in Beavers Bend State Park near Broken Bow, Oklahoma. What a great time! The area is really beautiful and the weather was wonderful. It was nice to spend time in God's creation and be reminded of his awesomeness. This was the first time that we have been camping since we got Kaiko, so we decided to test her out with the camping thing. Even she enjoyed it! She slept great in the tent, went hiking with us, and was friendly to all of the other campers. We did find out what kind of guard dog she is though...in that she isn't one at all. Raccoons decided to try to invade one of our tubs of food in the middle of the night. Was she the one who alerted us to the raiding critters? No. She just kept right on sleeping. When I got up and discovered what the noises were, was she the one to get out and chase them away? No. She looked up for a second before returning to her deep sleep. Ha! Oh well...it was a great time anyway. Here are some of the pictures.

Home Sweet Home!

2008-04-06T15:06:00.007-05:00

I know that these pictures are long overdue, and many of you have been begging for me to get them up here. Well...you will be at least partly happy, because I am finally getting some up.

First, you should hear the story of our house hunting adventure. Patrick and I have been talking about buying a house for a few months now. We decided that we would try to move into a house after our lease is up in May. We figured that we should start looking a few months ahead of time to be sure that everything was finalized before our lease ended. We drove around on our own for a few weekends in February looking at different neighborhoods and areas trying to get an idea of where we wanted to be.

We decided to go ahead and get a realtor to begin showing us places, because we had no idea how long it might take us to find "the house". I was really worried about being able to find a good realtor so I began to ask around at school for recommendations. One of the teachers across the hall pointed us toward Katherine. I called her one afternoon and just told her what we were looking for and gave her the addresses of a few properties we were looking at. From the very beginning, she was just absolutely incredible! She answered all of our questions and told us she would meet with us on Saturday to start looking at houses.

So we met with her on Saturday, February 16th, and we spent the ENTIRE day looking at houses. After looking at more than 10 properties, we had found a few that we "decent" but none that we absolutely loved. Katherine told us to go home, look online for more properties, and call her on Sunday. We called her the next day, and again we spent the day out looking at more houses. We found one house that didn't have any "negatives" to it, but it wasn't just amazing either. Katherine told us, "This is your first home. You have to love it!" We talked that night and realized that we didn't love it, but it was the closest to what we were looking for. I decided to look for more houses in that neighborhood. I got online and began hunting. I came across another house in the neighborhood that was a lot bigger and seemed to be a better layout. Patrick told me to go with Katherine on Monday(I had the day off) to look at the house.

Monday I showed up to the house and Katherine had already been looking through the house for a few minutes. She met me at the door and said, "This could be it!" I wasn't convinced until I walked inside. Sure enough, it had everything we wanted. It had an office, very open floorplan, large master bedroom and bathroom, great kitchen, and a decent backyard for Kaiko. It even had an added bonus, a gameroom upstairs! I was immediately convinced that this was the house. I LOVED it! I called Patrick and told him to meet us at the house after he got off work.

Patrick met us at the house and after he walked through, he said, "Alright. Let's make an offer." We both agreed...this was what we were looking for. We met on Wednesday(remember this is only 4 days after we started our real "house hunt") and put in an offer. On Thursday, we negotiated a bit and our offer was finally accepted. We closed on March 12th, the week before my Spring Break. We figured we would be able to paint, get some work done, and move in over my break.

It was a crazy week of very hard work! I painted all of the baseboards in the house, which doesn't seem too terribly bad until you consider that if you paint the baseboards, you have to paint the doorframes and if you paint the doorframes, you have to paint the doors. It quickly grew into a huge project! It was well-worth the work, because it really did make a big difference. We also painted the master bedroom(twice after we had a paint color disaster the first time) and the guestroom. I couldn't have done all of the painting without my mom and dad here to help! We also did some yard work, fixed some of the fence(thanks, Dad!), and some cleaning. All in all, it was a rewarding week after the work was done.

Next came moving day, April 22nd. It was the most amazing move I've ever experienced! Within four hours, we had...everything loaded into the truck at the apartment, everything unloaded into the house, beds put together, and washer and dryer hooked up. It was quite impressive! I owe it all to Patrick's parents, my parents, my uncle and the awesome help that he brought along. THANK YOU!!! Of course, it didn't hurt that I was my organized self and had everything perfectly color-coded and mapped out. ha!

So, we are happily settling into our new house now. We have successfully completed our first major home-improvement project, a trash drawer replacing one of our kitchen cabinets(I say major because it took major work and two weekends to complete) but it does work now! We are still decorating and unpacking the last of the boxes, but I know that will go on for quite a while.

Here are a few pictures of our house, and a few pictures of us working on the house. Once everything is really decorated and together, I'll add more pics of the inside. Enjoy!

The front...it'll look much better with some yardwork!

Living room...painting baseboards

Master bedroom...pre-paint

Master bedroom...post-paint

Mom painting the guestroom

I know...it looks like we were painting ourselves.
Some of it really did go on the wall, I promise!

The boys...resting after all of the moving.

We found a nest of baby bunnies in our yard while we were
pulling weeds. There were probably 5 or 6 in that hole. Cute!

Our neighborhood park

Snow, Snow, and more...Snow!

2008-03-07T19:02:00.005-06:00

Okay, so I'll be the first to admit that Texas weather is usually a little weird and always unpredictable. But this week's weather has been the epitome of weird and unpredictable!

On Monday, it was very rainy and cloudy or as we call it in my classroom "icky". Monday night, the rain turned into snow, and we awoke to a snowy morning on Tuesday. Thankfully the roads were okay so it was school as usual, or atleast as usual as it can be when you have twenty-one Texan 7-year-olds who never see snow. ha! We took the students out to play in the snow for a few minutes and by afternoon it was gone. Wednesday it was back up to about 60 degrees again, and we took the kids out for extra recess to enjoy the beautiful day. When I got to school on Thursday, I could tell it was going to be another "icky" day. It rained all morning, sleeted through lunchtime, and by afternoon there were GIANT snowflakes falling at a rapid speed. We all left school as early as possible to get home before the storm got worse. When I was driving home, the blowing snow was coming down so hard that I couldn't see the white lines in the road. It was nuts! Thankfully, my school district called last night(Thursday) and decided we would have a 2-hour delayed start today. It was super nice to sleep in a bit. I think I could get used to a late-morning start!

Of course, now as I sit here 12 hours later, the only evidence that there was ever any snow are the few melting snowmen leaning over in the yards of children everywhere. Well...I guess that is Texas weather for you! Here are some pictures of the winter wonderland!

Exciting News!!!

2008-02-23T22:22:00.004-06:00

Well...it looks like we are getting a house! It has all happened so fast that many of you may not have even known that we were house-hunting. My head is still spinning! We started looking at houses with our realtor on Saturday and by Wednesday we had made an offer on the one that we absolutely love. The offer has been accepted, and now all that is left is to get the inspection complete on Monday afternoon. If all goes well, we will be closing on March 12th and moving in on March 22nd! Here is a picture of the house, and I'll post plenty more soon!

The Holidays with the Shopoffs

2008-01-12T13:54:00.000-06:00

What a joyous time it was for us as Patrick and I were able to enjoy our first Christmas together as a family! It was a wonderful one!

We started out spending the weekend before Christmas with my family in Andrews. We ate a Christmas dinner with my parents and my sister before tearing into all of the presents. It was a great time. After our "Christmas" we decided to go to the movie theater to watch National Treasure 2. It is a very good movie, and if you haven't seen it you should!

On Christmas Eve, we headed back home so that we could have our very own Christmas celebration on Christmas Day. We had a great day. We slept late, ate another Christmas meal, and opened presents. Even Kaiko enjoyed that part. She loved digging into her stocking full of goodies from "Santa". (Yes, she is 28 in doggy years and she still believes in Santa...Shhhh)

Patrick worked throughout the rest of the week before we headed to Austin to have Christmas with his family over the New Year's weekend. It was good to spend time with everybody again. We even got to see Brien and Jeanie and hear all about their honeymoon trip to South Africa! We were bummed that Michael, Christie, and Courtney didn't make it, but we had a great family Christmas. Once again, we ate a Christmas meal and opened presents. Wow! How blessed are we to have so many great family meals over the holidays!

Our tree

This is a series of pictures I like to call "Trying to
capture a Christmas card picture with Kaiko"

This is our Christmas Card picture after
giving up on Kaiko being included.

Our family on Christmas morning

Opening presents!

Georgia on my Mind

2007-12-06T17:50:00.000-06:00

For quite a while now, Patrick and I have been discussing the possibility of moving to Georgia for me to go to grad school. We both love the beautiful state of Georgia, the University of Georgia has an amazing Instructional Design and Development master's degree, and we figure that if we want to be adventurous and try something new, now is the time.

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to visit Georgia to check out grad schools there. We spent a day in Atlanta and checked out Georgia Tech before heading to Athens to check out UGA. It was a great weekend, despite a few transportation problems in the beginning(we missed our flight out of DFW and had to wait on standby).

We really enjoyed the time we spent in Athens. It's a very neat city. It's small(only about 100,000 people--I know some of you will laugh that I think 100,000 is small but when you are comparing to Dallas, it is) but because it is a college town, it is full of things to do. The downtown area is amazing--tons of restaurants, shops, and places to hang out. Even better than that, downtown is located across the street(literally) from the UGA campus. I would be able to walk there after class! Athens has also been voted the #1 College Music Town because of all of the live music. Every day of the week, there is music somewhere. We really enjoyed being there, but the logistics of both of us getting jobs in a smaller city cause a slight hesitation with moving there. We'll just keep praying and see where God takes us!

While in Georgia, we also got to spend time in Atlanta. While we enjoyed the tour at Georgia Tech, I just don't think that the program is exactly what I am looking for. In Atlanta, we were able to visit the Georgia Aquarium, the largest aquarium in the world. It was pretty amazing! Part of it reminded me of the aquarium in Japan that we visited while we were there. These aquariums are just so large!! We also walked through Olympic Park and took pictures in front of the Coca Cola Museum before catching our flight home. Overall, the trip was a success. We had a great time, and though we don't know much more about where we will be in the next year, we do know that God will open up doors for us.

Georgia Tech Tower

Georgia Tech's Football Stadium in the midst of bustling downtown Atlanta

University of Georgia Arch -- pillars stand for wisdom, justice, and moderation

Herty Field -- home to the first collegiate football game held in the state of Georgia

View of Downtown Athens from campus

Because Georgia's mascot is Uga, the bulldog, there are 36 statues of painted bulldogs all over the city of Athens. Patrick and I were only able to find about 8. Here are a few.

In my classroom, we have two mascots, Puffy the Penguin and Mallory the Monkey. Each of the students has a chance to take one of the mascots home for a weekend to go on vacation with his/her family or just hang out. The students take pictures with the mascot and write in the mascot's journal about the adventures they had together. This is probably my students' favorite thing about my class. They just LOVE it! Patrick and I took Puffy with us to Georgia. (While Puffy was with us, Mallory was spending time in Hawaii!) Here are some of the pictures I shared with my kids.

(Puffy had to visit his Penguin cousins, of course!)

Olympic Park

Here are some pictures of us from the trip!

I'm Dreaming Of a White...Thanksgiving?

2007-12-03T20:55:00.000-06:00

Yep...that's right! We had a snowy Thanksgiving out in Lubbock and Amarillo. The worst of the snow was on our way home, which made for a long trip back. We had a great time visiting with family and celebrating my grandmother's 70th birthday! I wanted to share just a few pictures of the trip with you. I always look forward to the first snow of the year, and though it came earlier this year, I was still happy to see the white winter wonderland!

2007-11-04T09:02:00.000-06:00

Well, it is my favorite time of year...Fall! The weather has been just gorgeous(a rarity in Texas), and we have been busy enjoying it as much as we can. I wanted to give an update over things that we have been up to over the past month or so. Here goes...

In the middle of October, we finally had the chance to go to the lake for the first time this year! Sadly, with all of the weddings and other happenings over the summer, we didn't make it out there even once. We decided to meet my family there to celebrate my sister's birthday. It was great to spend time with everybody! We made it out on the boat one windy afternoon, and even Kaiko got to enjoy the lake a little bit. I have a few pics from the weekend. There may be more later!

Fun on the Boat

Kaiko loved the boat!

The weekend before Halloween, we were invited to go to a pumpkin-carving party. I was excited because I haven't carved pumpkins in YEARS! It was a "competition" between couples. We didn't really pick a winner, but I do have to say that I think ours was among the best. Check it out!

Teamwork!

Competition Jack-o-lantern #1

Competition Jack-o-lantern #2

Competition Jack-o-lantern #3

Our Jack-o-lantern...clearly the best!

The day after Halloween as a teacher can be a miserable experience. Our first grade team decided that we didn't particularly want that experience this year, and we planned a field trip...errr, I mean "study trip" as Frisco likes to call them...for the day following Halloween. We figured that with the kids hyped up on sugar we can send them out to run and have a good time at the Dallas Arboretum...while learning, of course! We have been studying plants, and therefore, the Arboretum is a great place to do this. The kids had a great time, and better than that, the teachers were all able to keep their sanity! Because I had so many parent chaperones, I didn't even have a group of kiddos to keep up with. I was able to walk around taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful Fall day. What fun!

"Mr. Grumpkins" - a 715 pound carved pumpkin
Yes, it's really real!

Our New Dog

2007-10-05T18:27:00.000-05:00

We have welcomed a new member to the Shopoff family. We picked up Kaiko, a 4-year-old Shiba Inu, from a lady on Wednesday. We adopted her through a Shiba rescue, because we didn't want to get a brand new puppy.

She is a beautiful and sweet girl, and we just love her! She loves to go on walks and play with her squeaky toys. She is very well trained and knows her "sit", "down", "stay", and "heel". I think she is actually teaching Patrick and me! Patrick is hoping to start training her to be his running partner soon. We are very excited to have her, and we wanted to share a few pictures with you!

Awww...our cute little family!

Kaiko is quite the little princess in her bed

Smile!

Longhorns Football!

2007-09-10T17:44:00.000-05:00

What a great weekend we had! Patrick and I received tickets to the UT vs. TCU game, and so we headed off to Austin for the weekend. We were able to see some of Patrick's family and spend some time relaxing.

Of course, the highlight of the weekend was the football game! We have been waiting for so long for football season. There is nothing we enjoy more than this time of year when we can lounge around watching football and keeping up with how our fantasy football teams are doing.

The first half of the TCU game wasn't that much fun. We were really worried about losing, because the Longhorns didn't look that great. During the second half, the team finally woke up, and thankfully, we won! The final score was 34-13. The score looks a lot better than we expected it to when watching the first half.

We are looking forward to heading to Austin again in a few weeks for the UT vs. Kansas State game! Here are some highlights from the weekend.

Sporting our burnt orange

Construction on the stadium improvements

The largest HD screen in college football AKA "The Godzillatron"

Watching the defense at work

It's That Time of Year Again!

2007-08-14T21:33:00.000-05:00

Well...school is about to start! I can't believe it! The summer seemed to fly by. You'd think that I got married, went on a honeymoon, moved, and started a new job or something...oh yeah, I did! hehe I am VERY excited about the year ahead, and I am looking forward to getting started with my new class of 1st graders.

Needless to say, I have spent countless hours over the past few weeks preparing my classroom. I decided to do some before and after shots of the room to show everybody the transformation that has been made. I do have to say that I couldn't have done it without the help of my mom and dad...it REALLY pays to have parents that are teachers. :c)

Let me tell you a little bit about my school. This is the fourth year that Isbell Elementary has been open. My principal is the principal that opened the school, and she is AMAZING! She is very high energy and passionate about what she does. This year our school theme is western, and our school is beginning to look like a genuine western town! It's very exciting!

Here are some before pictures of my classroom before I started to work...pretty dull and boring:

Here are some of the pictures of what it looks like now:

These are the western boards that greet you as you pass by my room.

Happy Birthday board! (Each student will have a hat with
his/her name on it to wear on his/her birthday)

Word Wall

Place to file student's work

My adorable chair!

Calendar Wall--BIG deal in 1st grade

Saving the best for last...the BEAUTIFUL rainbow built by my mom
and I. I think the kids are going to love the reading corner!

(While in progress)

The final masterpiece!

Fourth of July Fun

2007-07-15T15:17:00.000-05:00

Well...I know it has been a few weeks since the 4th of July, but I am just now getting the chance to make a post. We were able to entertain at our apartment on the 4th of July and I was thrilled. At my old apartment, it was hard to entertain because we didn't have a lot of room, a dining room table, or a big T.V. Now, we have all of those things. YAY!

With the weather acting like it has been with all of the rain, we were afraid that the evening might be rained out. Instead of doing a barbeque or picnic outside, we decided to cook a brisket and do our own inside barbeque. We had just a few friends over for dinner, we played games, and then we went to see Frisco's spectacular fireworks show. Seriously, it was probably one of the best I've seen. The pictures simply do not do it justice.

Patrick did a great job picking out our new home, and it was an excellent surprise for me to come home to on the night of our wedding! I wanted to post some pictures (at the request of many people) of our new apartment. It is absolutely wonderful living here. There are some really cool things in the area. Frisco is home to some of the best shopping, restaurants, and semi-pro sports teams. Maybe you should come visit us! ;c)

Our beautiful apartment complex!

Our living room

Our kitchen

Our dining room

Guest bedroom--come visit us!

Guest bathroom--complete with garden tub!

Our bedroom--not completely decorated yet

Our master bathroom

Honeymoon - Vancouver and Vancouver Island

2007-06-21T13:31:00.000-05:00

Not only was the wedding wonderful, but the honeymoon was just as great. The scenery in this part of the country is so breathtaking! We got some amazing pictures, and I wanted to be able to share some of them with you.

On our honeymoon, we spent half of the time in a lodge on the secluded coast of Vancouver Island in a town called Tofino. We were able to go whale watching on our first day there. We saw a momma and baby pair of humpback whales. It was great! At one point, we had lost sight of the whales only to be completely caught by surprise when the momma came up and spouted right next to our boat. We were able to do lots of hiking on the trails on the island. This is an amazing place as it is the largest temperate rainforest in the whole world. I definitely recommend visiting here!

The second half of our trip was spent in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. We got to experience our first ferry trips, as we made our way out to Vancouver Island and back to the city. We stayed in an excellent bed and breakfast in the heart of downtown and right next to Stanley Park. We were able to walk through part of the park one day, but it is large enough that it would have taken hours and hours to walk all of the trails. In Vancouver, we also were able to visit the Vancouver Aquarium. I absolutely love aquariums, and it was a great one. One day, we went out to Capilano Suspension Bridge, which is the longest suspended footbridge in the world. It's amazing that such a beautiful river surrounded by mountains and crossed by this amazing bridge can be minutes away from the bustles of downtown.

After being spoiled by the cool weather, amazing dinners, even more amazing breakfasts, and the rest and relaxation, it was hard to come back to the Texas heat and an apartment full of boxes. It was an absolutely perfect honeymoon!

Wedding - June 2, 2007

2007-06-21T13:01:00.000-05:00

The wedding was absolutely wonderful! Thank you to all of the friends and family who came out to be part of our special day. What a day it was! Pastor Oscar made the ceremony very personal, Ashley's photography was amazing, and the food and cake were delicious. Most importantly, Patrick and I entered into the holy relationship of marriage that God created for us. Here are some of the highlights of the day. There will be more to come, I'm sure.