Good-Bye 2011. Hello 2012!

2011 was a whirlwind year for the Schnelders.  So many ups mixed with some downs but overall an absolutely wonderful year.

We started off 2011 with a real bang.  On 1.29.11 John and I went from being the Schnaus/Elder couple to being the Schnelders (Ok, legally we became the Elders)

If you have been following this blog you already know that it was a roller coaster from there.

Feb-we went to Argentina for our honeymoon!  It was absolutely wonderful.  We had a great time!

When we returned from our honeymoon, both John and I received promotions at work!

When we returned John also scheduled an appointment with our realtor to see a house he had been drooling over in our neighborhood.  He was kind enough to honor my request that we wait until after the wedding to add a new house to our plate but the weekend after we returned from the honeymoon, we had fallen in love with 5181 E Pleasant Run Pkwy S Dr.  (Well, we fell in love with the house, not the address!)


In a Feb we put an offer in on the house and on March 24th, we closed!

On April 10th we put our old house on the market.  By April 16th we had settled on an offer and closed on May 20th!

On May 1st I quit my position at The Art Institute of Indianapolis and later that month I started an internship with Career Investments, the Career Consulting firm that helped me transition out of my last career.  In November, it turned into a big girl job and I am loving it!

In July I joined the fundraising committee for The Irvington Development Organization and since then I have met so many wonderful and crazy friends and neighbors.  I'm so glad to live in a community of greatness.

In sad news, the world lost a wonderful woman in 2011.  In August, Linda Pratt, the mother of a dear friend of mine and a mentor to me, lost her battle with Cancer.  She will not be forgotten.



In 2011 our friends Wilson and Jill welcomed baby Penelope, Michael and Liesl welcomed baby Jack. and Korey and Kevin found out they are pregnant.  Little Kullen will be joining us any day now!

In a nutshell, 2011 has been a year like no other but overall it was a great one for the Schnelders.  We are looking forward to what 2012 brings our way.  Here's to wishing everyone a happy new year!

Just another night on 37 then BOOM!

Work has been picking up and I have been doing some career discussions on the IU campus to groups like the Panhellenic Association, IU Student Association in addition to a couple of other organizations.  In the past week I have made a few trips down to Bloomington and I have been enjoying it  I pop a good audio book into the CD player and Carmen Corolla and I cruise down and then back up 37.  Yesterday was one of those days and overall it was a wonderful and very productive day. THEN the drive home took place.  It started out fine.  I was totally consumed by my book just cruising along and BAM! a deer ran into the side of my car on 37 just south of Martinsville. 

Other than scaring the daylights out of me, I am fine.  Luckily I was able to keep driving until I got to a well lit area where I took the picture below.   I could tell it was a buck when it's face met mine at my driver's side window and it appears as though an antler caught my door handle and ripped it off.  There is also a nice dent in the back side panel of the car.  When I pulled over to check out the damage I called it into insurance and an adjuster should be calling me soon.  I was so lucky it hit the way it did it could have ended much differently.  Not that we need any more reminding but BE CAREFUL on all roads but especially 37 at night!  I feel so bad for the deer!  I did have to call my brother in law to let him know that I got the buck he has been hunting. :)

5 Ways to Piss Mrs. Schnelder Off in a Yoga Class

Rough title to this blog, I know.  But there is a good reason for it.  I have been going to yoga on and off again for the past several years and back when I used to work such long hours, the only time I could squeeze it in was at 6am.  At that time there was only one place in comfortable 6am driving distance from my house with a regular 6am class so I started to go.  Now I know people go to yoga for all different kinds of reasons.  I happen to go to yoga to de-stress, relax, stretch and to center myself.  Overall I really go to AVOID being pissed off.  Well, there was only one choice for yoga instructors at that time at this place (Remaining nameless) and I went several times only to leave pissed off with a strong desire to throttle the instructor.

Today I was feeling a bit anxious.  Nothing I could put my finger on so I thought a yoga class would be good.  I proactively looked at the schedule to see if they had any classes that fit my schedule today.  One fit and "said instructor" was not listed to teach the clas.  Win-Win!  I make my way to the studio just in time for class and as soon as I walked in the door I saw, "Said Instructor" sitting there and my heart hit the floor.  Yes, she was the replacement instructor for this class and I stuck it out.  As it turns out, it was much better than I remembered.  That or I am much more laid back now that my life is a bit more mellow or maybe my mood is better in the afternoon than it is at 6am.  Either way, I left today only wanting to run out of the class a couple of times and I didn't even wish bodily harm to her.

Now what could make me (an otherwise non-violent person) want to throttle a person that is teaching what is supposed to be a relaxing yoga session you ask?  Did she make it too difficult?  Was I in phyisical pain and weak?  No.  It has nothing to do with the intensity of the session.  I will say that I understand that what you are about to read is down right bitchy.  I own that.  I also understand that what you are about to read may very well be the things you love about your yoga class and that is absolutley fine.  There is just something inside me that MUST release this out into the world.

  I will do a count down to give you an idea of how to use yoga to piss Mrs. Schnelder off.

5. Play fast tempo, thumping, loud music throughout class.  Come on!  Did you all take your ephedrine before Yoga?!  Uh, if I wanted fast tempo beats I would have gone to Zumba and not Yoga!

4.  Bark orders to the class to do continuous sun salutes very quickly (imagine the chipmunks on crack) and then tell the class "really, you should go at your own pace" but never let anyone catch up, just keep speeding along.  When I look around everyone has a look of confusion like, "Where are we?"

3. Use the whole class to show all of the advanced moves you as the instructor can do and follow the moves with, "I know none of you can do this stuff now but don't worry I just want you to see what it should look like."  This may a very reasonable act but she says it in a way that is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

2. BLAST the music during Savasana (corpse pose) while you are supposed to be laying in meditation with a lovely lavender pillow over your eyes preparing to go back into the world a much more serene person.  But make sure it is so loud that your eyes water and you can't even hear your own thoughts and you feel like you are at a Metallica concert on the floor.

1. Add Dave Matthews to your yoga playlist for class.

I left class with a strong desire to go fetal in a dark room.  I am headed there now.

Feeling of Contentment

After years and years of struggling to reach some sort of a destination in life, I feel like I have either arrived to the destination I have been looking for or that I have finally come to an understanding that the journey is the destination.  I know I have been blogging about this for months (6 to be exact!) but I still can't believe how happy I am with life right now. 

Of course I have my ups and downs like everyone but I have to say that for the first time in a long time and maybe ever, I find that the ups DRASTICALLY outweigh the downs.  And yet, it feels a little earie...I can't help but feel like there's a storm a brewing...and yet to fully believe that the journey is the destination, you must also understand that this too shall pass.  To quote Longfellow, "In every life a little rain must fall". 

When the inevitable rains come, I hope I will remember that it is still part of the journey and that too shall pass.  Something tells me it will be a little more challenging.  So for now I am enjoying these sunny days, weeks and months.  I am now taking the time to plant the roses, grow them and smell them as I enjoy each and every moment of this gift the universe has given me.

Hello Weight Watchers, we meet again.

It's been over 9 months since I have been on Weight Watchers and I knew I would come back and the time has come.  Here I am.  In the time I was "off" life got in the way as it often does.  I got married, got a promotion, bought a "new" house, sold the old one, quit my job, found a new one and took the summer to "Find the new me" and as it turns out, Weight Watchers is as much of the new me as the old me.  It's such a wonderful program that it will likely be a part of my life forever and I'm ok with that because for me, my weight is a journey, not a destination.

So, my husband and I hope to begin a family in the next couple of years and I thought I better start THAT journey at a lower weight as to help my Post-Baby self out a bit and not have to take off as much later on.  Plus, my "fat pants" were getting a bit tight so here I am!

This is labor day weekend and I have been doing well so far but today is Sunday.  We are entertaining tonight and tomorrow night and I have already used up all of my "bonus" points!  I have to be strategic so that I can stay on track the next couple of days.  I plan on stocking up on fruits and veggies and staying as far from alcohol as I can though that one is going to be a toughie!

Glad to be back on plan!  Weighed in at a meeting today and I'm down 3.4 lbs.  I'll take it!

Oh the things I have learned today

I can't say it enough, I love my neighborhood!  Irvington is a small historic neighborhood 10 minutes east of downtown Indy.  It was one of the first Indianapolis Suburbs.  This summer they have been re-paving Washington Street (Old HWY 40 that splits Irvington in half) and you could see the old rail tracks from the cable cars that used to run from downtown.  Oh how I wish they were still running.  Very cool but not the reason I am in love with my neighborhood today.  Today was the 2nd annual Irvington Skill Share.  People gathered to share skills they have learned.  I LOVED it.  I rode my bike to a church in the neighborhood and learned how to make a no-knead bread, how to knit socks, save seeds from my garden for the spring, make cheese, and re-purpose fabric.  I got so many ideas and immediately came home and harvested seeds from my lettuce and bean plants.  I also found out that I can plant my lettuce seeds now for another harvest this fall.  LOVE IT!

I feel like a kid.  Now that I actually have time to do things outside of work I may not be as financially rich but boy am I rich in ideas and relationships that I am able to build now that I have more balance.  Today is a good day!

Dear Tween Tara...

I am feeling quite reflective tonight after hearing that the mother of a dear friend of mine lost her battle with Cancer today.  LP you will be dearly missed by everyone who had the fortune of encountering you and your wisdom, calm nature and wonderful advice.  You raised an amazing and wonderful son and daughter.  Your memory will live on forever.

 I often think back to when I was a little girl lying in bed dreaming about the woman I would become.  I loved books on spells and witchcraft and always checked them out from the library. (Now that I think about it, my uber Catholic parents were pretty cool with that).   There was one "Spell" (I was so ahead of Harry Potter) that was supposed to show you a reflection of your future husband or wife in the mirror if you chanted it in a dark room.  We had a HUGE mirror in the kids bathroom and try as I might, I was too afraid to follow through with it.  I think part of me was afraid it wouldn't work but the bigger part of me thought it might and I was concerned that I wouldn't like what I saw!  Well little girl, you would have liked what you saw.  Well, I guess that depends on if it would have shown John at that age and at that age I'm pretty sure he still had his rat tail and well...let's just say I hope the spell would not have shown me at that time.  I had two braces on my two front teeth and pink glasses with stars on the side.  Boy we would have been a match!

So, this blog is a message to little Tween Tara the worry wart: That mole on the side of your nose, you know, the one the size of a pencil tip?  Yeah, no one even realizes it's there so quit freaking out about it.  Oh and you are not fat.  You have adorable chubby cheeks with dimples and the braces work.  You will have no more gap in your teeth.  You will have lasik eye surgery and lose the glasses.  It will be 5 minutes of pure hell but you will get over it and it will be wonderful.

You have a great time in college where you will meet your soul mates in the form of sorority sisters.  They will empower you and make you realize that high school was a bit of a sham and that the hormones got in the way of joy.  (You even get to know people you thought were kind of jerks in high school and they become awesome in college.)  You meet friends that will hold your hair back on your 21st birthday. you will meet the friends that stand with you on your wedding day and when you find out those friends are going to become moms you will cry every time.  Those friends become the most wonderful parents in the world and their children will bring tears to your eyes too.  You will share other tears too and not just those of joy.  You will walk over hot coals for them if they need it and wish you could take away their pain and loss for them and they would do the same for you.

Your sucky sister and brother?  Yeah, it takes awhile but you all become very close and hearing about their engagements, marriages and births bring on a whole other set of tears.  They bring you the most special little people to your life.  You can't even imagine loving someone as much as you love those little nephews.

Your "mean" parents that torture you by making you do chores, work in the yard and cook dinner?  It turns out they are pretty smart but you won't realize that until much later.  (You have to let your hormones get settled before that happens) and these days you LOVE to cook and do your best to cook dinner for your own family every night.  It is now cooking and yard work that calms those worries and anxieties.  Cleaning? Sorry, you still hate that.  What you will find out is that your parents enable you to spread your wings and fly by offering just the right amount of love and support.  They let you fall just enough to learn from the feeling of pain but would never let you fall on your face.  Kind of like how they taught you to ride a bike.  You skinned your knee but you didn't bust your head.  They teach you all kinds of things just like riding a bike only it's stuff like buying a house, car, insurance and more.  You may hate their lessons now but really, they know their stuff.

Oh and the heartbreak?  Yeah, I'm sorry.  It's gonna suck and it's gonna suck bad for awhile and it's not just one heartbreaker so hold on.  It gets better I promise though you will lose faith many times.  Then, just like they said it would, it comes when you least expect it.  You will meet this guy and not even have a clue you like him or he likes you.  It takes 6 years for it all to sort itself out but stick with it!  It is SOOOOO worth it.  You end up with two dogs, two cats, a beautiful home and the party is just getting started.

So, Tween Tara the worry wart, I have good news and I have bad news.

The bad news: there will be tears and there will be many and you never stop being a worrier but you kind of start to deal with it.  You have to treat it like a chronic illness and know that the worry is always lurking. It's part of you.

Now the good news: you are happy!  You find love, true friendship and great dogs.  You can have your cake and eat it too and well, you still have chubby cheeks but you eventually start to think they are kinda nice.  So hang in there. The best is yet to come.