Horsie-Dog Pictures! Go Rare Bush!!!

Here are some photos from the horse races last weekend! Going with our friend, Karen (who is the biggest dog and "horsie-dog" lover I have ever met!), was my birthday treat from her and Buddy. Unfortunately the Army has dibbs on Buddy for a while and he wasn't able to join us that day.

For the last big race, we decided that we couldn't come and not place a bet, so Ben put in $5 on the horse of my choice - Rare Bush. And boy did he ever own that race!! It was a sweet way to end the day :) Another highlight (besides all the good food) was watching 2 horses that finished the race (including the jumps) without their jockey's...

Horse Races

Chelsa and I had a sweet-as day out in the sun. Got a little burned as we watched our first horse horse races today. Not only was it our first horse race but it was a first for either of us to bet on a horse. Way to go Rare Bush as he brought in a big $20 off of our $5 bet. We will be planning a trip to Vegas soon if anyone is up for it.

Vita-Mix Soup

Yes, i know this soup looks terrible, but before you judge me listen to my story. Pregnant and nauseous. A loaf of bread (just looking at it) can make me gag until I throw up. Smells are the worst, especially when no one else can smell them and you can't figure out where the heck they are coming from. If you come to visit, you will find little containers of baking soda strategically placed around the kitchen. You need to eat but have no clue what to make, and you need food now before you start to get nauseous and gag. I started to realize that for a few days my eating habits were going downhill...bagals, plain chips, gummy fruity snacks, (and a few more unmentionables that i wouldn't even think to eat while not gestating) they all go down pretty easy. But that is just poor nutrition, so I forced myself to try this soup.

handful of fresh spinach
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
maybe a small slice onion
maybe some red pepper
cup of hot veggie broth

and it doesn't taste bad! and it doesn't smell bad! it just looks bad. and the pH must be neutral because it is gentle on the stomach :)

I've been trying to have a mug a day :) And it is going pretty good! That is my pregnant story for you :) Next week I think we will hear the baby's heart beat at our appointment :)

Warmly,
Chelsa

More DC Photos

DC by foot

Our latest 4-day adventure included a drive to the nations capital last weekend. It was a phenomenal weekend that we mostly filled with great sights and good food. In fact if you visit go to TangySweet, a delic frozen yogurt shop.

Our first full day of fun was started off by a two hour tour led by a group called DC by Foot. As their website says, "the only free tip based tour of Washington DC." Our guide was filled with facts and snacks. Occasionally he'd quiz you for a chance to win a snack. It was good fun with loads of historic, and even some modern, facts of DC. Two stories I found interesting was the history behind the creation of George Washington's Monument and the Vietnam War Memorial. Speaking of George Washington... were we ever lucky to have him as a founding father.

So the next chance you get, take a trip to DC, where the roots of our nation run deep. Enjoy the PICS.



free place to stay in fayetteville if you know the story behind this guy

Arlington cemetery... fairly sobering. something to be proud of at the same time.

time honored ceremony. the changing of the guard.

look twice before you cross...


in case we work on "the hill" we wanted a before and after pic

DC by foot pictures

Chelsa in front of honest Abe himself
(we made the comment a lot that we thought we were in
Greece with all of the architecture)

Korean War Memorial
everything in DC was placed with a purpose
the statues you see are of 19 Soldiers
the sculptor wanted twice as many, can you guess why that would be symbolic?
well he didn't get the land for that so instead built a wall behind the statues that reflects all 19
thus doubling the number of Soldiers

the latest war memorial to be completed was in honor of WWII
again everything is placed with a purpose.
the wall you see is filled with thousands of gold stars each signifying 100 Soldiers killed in WWII
the memorial was placed low enough so that you could see the GW monument from the Abe memorial and vice versa
but once inside the memorial for WWII your only focus is on the wall/reflecting pool because you can't see anything else. also, there are mini waterfalls on either side of the wall drowning out any sounds from the street.

the planners of DC did a wonderfully strategic placement of this gorgeous woman
attracting many men to our tour
luckily her man is lean and mean to fight them all off

our tour guide
a retired history teacher

these are all my amateur shots... i'm sure chels will bless us with her pics in the future

Blast from the Past...okay, not that long ago!

Ben and I went up to Raleigh with our friends - Buddy & Karen - to see the Carolina Hurricanes vs Colorado Avalanche game! Those NC fans impressed me :) (the " 'Canes" won).


On Valentines Day, we drove down to the Charleston, SC coast (Folly Beach - So pretty!!!) and helped out a coworker of Ben's propose to his future wife!!


The groom-to-be had bought 1000 chem-lights (aka. glow sticks), & gave us directions to spell out nice and HUGE, "MARRY ME JESS?" on the beach...how fun is that!! We enjoyed the rest of the weekend in Charleston with our friends, Buddy & Karen :)





Way back in January we went on a Marriage Retreat put on by Ben's unit...we went Skiing in North Carolina! Who knew?? It was FREEZING. But we had a good time just getting out of the lovely Fayetteville :) For the Red Deerians out there, this hill was the size of Canyon...except that only one run was open due to the lack of snow...but hey, they try!! And man, there were some full on hard-core skiiers out taking advantange!!


Well, these photos seem like old news now...but I finally got our little point-and-shoot to import, so I thought a few oldies are better than none!

The Results Are In

It has been an eventful 2009 for us thus far! Ben's unit has been busy going into and out of the field. For those of us who aren't in the Army, this usually means kicking it off with an all-nighter paratroop jump & mission, and then heading out somewhere in the woods to set up Army "camp" for a couple of weeks. From my understanding Ben works in the Aid Station Tent and sleeps outside on the ground - even when it is freezing. The different parts of the unit work together to complete different missions and training. That is about the extent of what I know goes on!

While he was out in the field this month, we got some crazy wonderful news ... Our first little Schaefer-baby is going to come into the world and bless our lives about 2 years sooner than we expected! While not originally our timing, we are convinced that God's timing is far better. This news changes a few things for us, and has us really thinking about our near future. Through it, God is also teaching us (especially me) some valuable lessons. Who am I to tell God when I want kids and how many? He knows us better than we know ourselves, thank goodness. He is in control, and we can trust Him with our lives.

How am I feeling? Well pretty much as soon as those 2 lines turned blue the morning (aka. all day) sickness dropped like the A-Bomb. Pardon my language but morning sickness is a b****. Although it is getting more and more under control, I am looking forward to the 2nd trimester...I have high hopes that I'll enjoy feeling energetic and great!

We have some photos to post (because that's the best part of a blog!) but for some reason our little camera won't import today....we'll get them up soon :)

As always we'd love to hear from you so drop us a line anytime!!

Snow Day !!!! (hence the massive photo update)

My handsome husband in his new Army Issued Oakley's.

Check out some of the photos from Taylor's photo session!

Mrs. Clause in her new pj's.

My little brother Carson!!! We're so proud of his passion & accomplishments in golf!

We did a photo session with Myles, our beautiful nephew.

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I can't believe "Ben's Birthday Buns" was our last post! It has obviously been a while since we jumped back on the blog wagon. But today is a SNOW DAY for us! We woke up this morning to a text message telling Ben that Ft. Bragg is shut down for the day. My classes are canceled due to "hazardous conditions", and my CPR class is also being rescheduled. It is gorgeous outside! Although we know most of you have spent the last few months in ridiculously cold weather, we've never experienced this since living here in North Carolina, last week we could get away with a light sweater.

Enjoy this photo update...we had an amazing Christmas & New Years spent with family. And we just got back from a weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC. It was a marriage retreat put on by the Army, how cool is that? It was shockingly cold at the top of that "mountain". We even went skiing one day! (For all you RD people it was comparable to Canyon Ski Hill :)