Fall 2023 - One to remember!

 I know, I know - it's almost Christmas and I'm writing about Fall but I would be remiss if I didn't document the WILD Fall the Schulz family had in 2023. 

It all started off with a family trip to our favorite place in the world: Northern Wisconsin. We knew we were about to embark on our heavy travel season and our world would be turned upside down, so we wanted to take the week to enjoy each others company, have no set schedules and breathe in nature's clean air. Rhy learned how to fish, make smores all on her own and how to jump off the back of a boat into a lake. (Her favorite)

Well our world was REALLY turned upside down, because on this trip we found out our family was going to be growing!

I was then off to San Antonio for a work trip. ALPFA (Association of Latino Professionals for America) had their annual conference and Google was a huge sponsor. 

Got to take Rhy to her first volleyball game (she lasted about 20 mins) 😂

After I got back, Kyle was off to China for a work trip. On the way there, he got a blood clot in his calf. He had a fun trip to the Chinese ER where he was put on blood thinners. It was incredibly scary but happy to announce he is all better and healthy now. Kids, make sure to get up and walk during long flights. 

Then I was off to Orlando for the Grace Hopper Conference for Women in Tech. 

We celebrated Google's 25th Bday! 

Even with all the work travel, we were still able to make it to Indiana for our annual Fall Family Fun Fest with all my siblings and Rhy's cousins.  

Then I was off to Atlanta to run my first conference by myself! MBA Veterans hosts an annual conference where they help Veterans find jobs once they have transitioned out of the military. Met some really impressive folks. 

I really love Chicago Fall so I made sure to take some time to appreciate it. 

Then I was off to Austin for the last work trip of the year - Afrotrech, a Conference for Black+ Technologists. By the end of this week, I was absolutely EXHAUSTED. (Reminder - I'm pregnant during all this travel - 😲)

Once I got back from Austin, I prepped for my 2nd mom's retreat (Check out our website). I'm not going to lie, I went into it totally burnt out. But surprisingly, the weekend really did refill my cup. Connecting with these incredible moms in such a deep way was so meaningful. 

Kyle flew to Asia again (Japan) with no sign of any blood clot. Once he got back, we had a celebration of life for Kyle's grandma and got to spread some ashes of his Papa and Gigi around their house and in front of their flower shop. We miss them dearly. ❤

Kyle and I rounded out our year's travel with a trip to Mexico to see our friends, Maggie and Kyle, get married! It was such a special wedding and so many fun memories were made. It was also so nice to travel together (instead of all the lonely work travel)

We spent Thanksgiving in Madison, WI with Kyle's cousins, Mark and Lucy, graciously hosting. We ate delicious food, did crafts and just enjoyed time together. We ended the weekend with our favorite tradition: day movie. Rhy picked Trolls :) 

                            PHEW. Re-living that Fall was VERY tiring. Pic of the vibe in our house: 

                                             

I do have to say Kyle and I are so incredibly grateful and privileged to have these opportunities and live our life to the fullest. We are also so lucky to have such supportive families to help when needed. We wouldn't be able to do all of this without them. 

Now I'm going to go log off and do NOTHING and not leave my house for the rest of the year. :) Happy holidays everyone! 

oxox, 

JJ

PS - my favorite thing is to fly home at night and see the entire city lit up. It's so romantic and pretty :)