The Need for Speed!

Can I just say I LOVE my new laptop! Thanks to my husband for my new Acer TravelMate 5270 with 2 GB. It is so fast!! It is my graduation present. We toyed with the idea of getting a Mac. Then we remembered we get all the help and free software we need via 1-800-Bill. Thanks Bill! You know you love us :) We now don't have to share our monster 17" screen laptop...we've got our own! I have freedom to spend as much time as I want working on my movies, scrapbooks, photo books and blogging!

Okay, how ridiculous is it that we have 4 laptops laying around?! So sad. The baby laptop is my work laptop. My new speedy laptop. Then there is the monster laptop, now known as JT's laptop and then JT has his work laptop on the ottoman (JT's office). Cords and stuff everywhere! This is our life.

New Years...Reflections

So today is the first day for 2008. As you can see from my posting history, I've been making up for lost time. SOOO much happened in the fall and I failed to make any posts past mid August. 2007 was the year for travel for us. I started my new job at Hilton Hotels the week before Christmas 2006 and the year stayed pretty busy. What a difference a year makes!

New Years was spent throwing a party for our friends Casey and Gary who were moving to Nashville. In February we spent a long weekend in Greenwood, MS at the Alluvian hotel. Greenwood is a tiny town where we headed just to "get away from it all" and that we did. Viking Appliances is headquartered there and also owns the hotel. In March we headed to Nashville to visit Casey and Gary. It was near Casey's birthday and St. Patrick's Day. We had a blast painting downtown Franklin green for St. Patty's day. In May we traveled east to Gatlinburg TN for another dose of R&R. We rented a cozy little log cabin and explored the Smokey Mountains.

May was the same time frame we decided to adopt the newest member of our family, Jake, a Boykin Spaniel. I didn't have the blog going at that point in time but am sure I could have devoted many postings to our trials and tribulations with Jake. Not that we are problem free, but he seems to be doing much better now. During the summer we visited our friends' lake house at Kentucky Lake and got the itch for buying vacation property for a lake home. We always thought something like that would be a good investment and just made the deal. Family visited in August and of course the world wind trips that followed in the fall included a trip to Napa Valley, South Beach Miami and Japan.

I don't really like the idea of New Years resolutions because they always seem to fade so quickly. Rather, I choose to focus on a word for 2008...an idea really, and that is BALANCE! Balance in every way. JT and I work very hard and often let our worklife take over our personal lives. JT especially works long hours and I know it continues to be a focus of his to achieve more balance. I often let my mind be preoccupied with thoughts of work...upcoming deadlines, projects, stress. I let my thoughts and worries keep me from living in the moment. I enjoy time to do creative projects like creating photobooks, scrapbooks, creating a website, painting and artsy/craftsy projects. I also want to learn to play the piano again and would love to buy/rent a piano. JT would love to get a motorcycle again someday. Riding his friends' bike over Christmas increased this desire. It may scare me that he could get hurt, but I know it is something he loves to do. So, I say do more of what it is you like to do....that's my goal. 2008 I will achieve more balance in my life! Hopefully, I'll also be better about updating our blog!

Schneider Sez have BALANCE. See you in 2008!

Farrah Graduates...finally! 12/15/07

Ok, so I know it has been 7 years in the making...but I finally did it! I have completed my Master's in Instructional Design and Technology. I have letters behind my name...M.S. Be nice....Master of Science, of course. I have been finished with my course work for over two years but life kept getting in the way of working on that master's project. Things like a bank merger demanding 80 hour work weeks, planning a wedding and remodeling our house. So hooray for me...I'm officially smart!!

Holidays 2007

I love Christmas. This year we had a little gathering at our place Christmas Eve. It was nice and really made me feel like were weren't just all by ourselves this year. We made plenty of food and made some of our Christmas candy. This year it was Oreo balls, or Reindeer Balls as they are called for Christmas. We had a little gift exchange and sipped Jingle Juice, a yummy new adult beverage I discovered in Southern Living.


While we did stay here for Christmas, we went to Jonesboro the day after to visit my family. We had our traditional Christmas dinner and all the little elves passed out presents.


The following weekend it was Schneider Daycare while we watched Hannah (9), Samuel (7) and Luke (5) while Eric and Susan went to the Liberty Bowl. I also volunteered to take on Christina (5), my friend Jill's daughter, while she and her date went to the Liberty Bowl. Everybody was good, aunt Farrah and uncle JT were just ready for a little downtime the next day.

A Wedding Album...Finally! 10/15/07

October 15th was our second wedding anniversary and I finished our wedding album just in time! It was only 2 years in the making! I originally started of with a scrapbook, which I still intend to finish one day. A friend told me about a site called blurb.com which lets you upload and create your own book, complete with a jacket, hard cover and high quality printing. I was so happy with the way it turned out! I also did a photo book on Shutterfly for our Napa trip and while it turned out good, I was much more impressed with the quality and artistic look of the blurb book. You can view the first 15 pages of my wedding book 10.15.05 on blurb.com. Yeah, I'm so excited it turned out so beautiful!

Japan Trip 11/14-11/27

Wow! That about sums up our trip to Japan. We spent nearly two weeks there staying with JT's uncle Isamu. This time around my parents tagged along with me, JT and Mako. We were due for a visit and figured we better get in another trip to Japan before we start having kids (whenever that might be). Even though the point of the trip was to visit family, we packed in a lot of sightseeing and mini-trips. For me, I think the highlight was visiting the mountain resort of Minikami and staying overnight in a Ryoken, a traditional Japanese-style hotel. This area is known for the onsen, which is natural hot spring water. My mom and I accompanied Mako and her sister Noriko to the bath - naked, of course. There was no way I was going to do the co-ed bathing experience. The womens only was scary enough. Once I got there and got in the water, it was no longer a big deal. We also stayed overnight at the Hilton Tokyo and had about a day and half to soak up as much of Tokyo as we could. We managed to fit in quick trips to the Imperial Palace, the Meiji Shrine, shopping and sightseeing in Ginza and Shibuya. This blog would be a book if I wrote about all the little experiences, so I think pictures do a better job of telling the story. My goal is complete a Japan book, similar to the one I did for our wedding. Check out our Japan 2007 pictures. There are over 200, but you can speed up the slideshow and click at your own pace. Happy viewing!

The Party Continues in SOBE 9/21/07

So...my 5 Factor diet I was all gung ho about back in July, which was to prepare me to get a body like Halle Berry by September, didn't exactly come to fruition. Well, there were many factors really...lost motivation and lost motivation. Taking a wine trip and gorging on delectable food the week before probably didn't help. Ahh well. My first trip to South Beach was a blast. Having had just a wee too much wine the weekend before guaranteed I would not be getting too crazy in SoBe! Molly, Molly P, Liz and Ranae helped me celebrate the big 3-0 in style. We stayed at the Doubletree Surfcomber (a Hilton property, of course) which was right in the middle of everything. The first night we were not too sure where THE places to go were so we just walked around and checked out everything. We passed on an invitation from the bouncer at the Mansion because the crowd looked suspect. We learned later the Mansion is one of THE places to go. Oh well. By the next night we had figured out that various hotel lobbies and clubs were the places to be. Hotels on Collins Avenue such as The Delano, The Sagamore ,Loews Hotel, and The Shore Club were where all the pretty people appeared to be. We ate dinner at Nobu at the Shore Club and then on to the Skky bar. Two fabulous trips celebrating my 30th with my husband and friends was a great way to usher in the 30s! Check out my SoBE 30th Birthday pictures.

Farrah Turns 30 - Napa Style!

JT conspired with our friends Casey and Gary to plan a trip to Napa. He had been planning the trip since our visit to Casey and Gary's house in Nashville in March. We had long talked about a trip to Napa and my and Gary's birthday was the perfect opportunity! We only had four days but we managed to pack in a lot of wine tastings and fun! September was a beautiful time to go as we had perfect weather. We were also in time for crush. We split our time between Napa and Sonoma. JT and I decided we liked Sonoma a little bit better, except for the fact that I was hungover on our drive through the mountains, which was not fun at all. The mountains and scenery were just gorgeous! Check out my Napa photo book .