We've been living in St.Louis for a month this weekend! That's crazy! Time has already gone by super fast. We love it here so far. Me, being from here, it hasn't taken too much time to adjust to city life again, but my husband on the other hand....he came from Centralia, IL. Ever heard of it? Yeah, me neither until I met him:) It's a bigger town than Greenville, IL though! So we moved from Greenville, IL, population= 7,000 people to St. Louis, population= a lot more. I'm trying to get used to city life again. I think what I miss the most is being able to call up a girlfriend and tell them I'm going stop by in 2 minutes. No, here in the city, everyone is way busier and they don't live just 2 minutes away. You have to plan more. Ugh. We LOVE our apartment. Its in Richmond Heights, MO..nice and safe. Highway 40 is basically our backyard, but we are getting used to sirens, loud trucks, and people accidentally driving on the rumble strips. That first week I woke up a lot from loud noises, but now it's all good. Side note...I woke/wake Scott up a lot still from my crazy sleep talking and crazy actions I do in my sleep. I like to hear the stories every morning...I make me laugh.
We found a great church, we have great friends, we love our place, everything is convenient, but our jobs are just ok. Mine is getting a lot better, but it's just taking time to build the program. Scott is job searching again...yay!(said in a very sarcastic tone). God has still been so faithful and his provision never fails. Our awesome neighbor only made us pay him one small fee and now we have internet for almost free! Jered, my bro-in-law, gave us his bunny ears (antenna), so we get the 3 best channels (the Office, Modern Family, the news, Biggest Loser)! AND I have a sweet deal picking up kids from school everyday and taking them to sports practices or home to make some extra mula every week! Seriously, that all happened in one day. God is good all the time, for realz. Here are some pics of our new apt...it still basically looks this way except no white patches on the wall anymore:)
After a loooooonnnngggggg summer of prayer and patience (well patience at times), God has opened a door for us to move to good 'ol STL! We are moving next Friday! Oh my goodness, it seemed like it took forever to figure out where we were supposed to be and what God had for us, but now it's all happening so fast! We are so so so excited for our move for a lot of reasons: the biggest reason being we know this is where the Lord wants us right now. I will be an activities director at the Creve Couer Racquet Club. I can't wait to plan activities for kids and hang out with them all day:) Scott will be doing several different jobs at the club along with helping coach football at Westminster Christian Academy. I can't tell you how excited I am that he finally gets to coach and gain experience. We are praying something will lead to a teaching and coaching job for him. We love our new apartment too. God has taught us both so much this summer. Even though it was hard and seemed long, God had a plan all along and it's happening in His perfect timing. It has brought Scott and I closer together and closer to Christ. He is so good.
My sis-in-law, Amie, and my oldest brother, Justin, are having their first baby in July. I'll be having another sweet nephew! They are naming him Blake Douglas Hayward...Douglas is my dad's name and Justin's middle name. So presh. Last Sunday, mom and I road tripped to Chicago for her baby shower. We left at 5:30am, went to the shower, and drove back! Though it was a long and tiring day, I'd do it again in a heartbeat for Amie and Blakey D. Amie is so sweet and cute. I feel so blessed to have her as a sis-in-law. Can't wait for another baby in the family!
Scott finally got a motorcycle. He's been wanting one for a really long time now. He diligently searched on craigslist for 2 weeks until he found "the one." At first he was looking for one that didn't run. He knew it would be cheap and he enjoys fixing things. I like the cheap idea too and I am good at watching him fix things. It's a 1989 Yamaha Radian 600...sure, sounds great to me! He got a pretty amazing deal...it was cheap AND it runs! The corroborator needs to be fixed (do I sound smart?)....I think that's the main problem. Thankfully his dad is a mechanic and can help him fix it. One more thing he needs to do that is slightly important is get his motorcycle license. I asked him if he could teach me to drive it and he hesitantly said "uh...maybe!" I guess I'll have to teach myself. Joke. I would die. The first thing everyone asks me when I tell them Scott bought a motorcycle is, "Are you scared!?!?!" I just tell them there is a lot of things in life that are dangerous and I'm not really scared. That may change when I am actually riding on the back of it and only have Scott to hold onto. I trust him though. I'm pretty pumped to become a motorcycle wife. My mom gave me a 15 minute lecture on how dangerous they are and how safe Scott needs to be. Thanks mom for caring...I do appreciate your worries and your reservations.
Another bonus: Scott got a FREE helmet!! It's a nice one too. We are now on the lookout for a helmet for me. I'm thinking about bedazzling it when I get one. Scott may be embarrassed to ride with me if I do that...I guess it's not worth me not being able to ride with him. The bike had these hideous, bright green, tribal stickers on it when he first got it. Thankfully they peeled off. My friend, Jen Manning, suggested we get a tattoo to match it. Do you have an awesome picture of us on the bike with matching bright green, tribal tattoos on our arms and my bedazzled helmet? Man, that sounds pretty. Before Scott had his interview this past Wednesday, I made sure to take one last pic of his awesome/nasty mustache IN his new helmet.
He's such a charmer! I already miss his nasty mustache. When we get that baby running, don't be surprised if you read in the newspaper about the new "Schneid Dog Gang" in town. Pictures to come...
that's my brother, Justin, and his preggo wife, Amie
As I have stated before, my family is massive. Out of my siblings, Justin is the oldest. His dream since he was just a boy was to become a producer. He is extremely talented and creative. He lives in Chicago, IL with his lovely and preggo wife, Amie. Side note: I can't wait to have another little nephew!! Justin has worked as the lighting guy (not sure of the technical name) on several commercials. He's had many jobs with Silent Partner Films. Here is a website you can check out to see some commercials Justin has done the lighting for: www.spfilms.com. If you click on "reels" it will show commercials you can choose from. Check out that sweet lighting! I never realized how hard it was to get the perfect lighting until I went and visited him where they filmed in Chicago. It was so cool to finally see what my brother has done for years of his life now. At that time they were shooting a Toys-R-us commercial for power tools. It was so intriguing to watch! He has also won the Chicago film festival twice! He made a short film called Divorce Lemonade, I believe in 2005. Check it out:
This past year, he finished his first feature film called Fireproof Gloves. No, it's nothing like the movie Fireproof. Not Justin's style:) Just recently, he filmed a music video for the awesome band in St. Louis called Pretty Little Empire. Justin Johnson, the lead singer, is a good friend of his. Check out how great the band is and how great of a job Justin did with filming the video.
To check out Pretty Little Empire's site, just go to www.prettylittleempire.com. You can see the video here as well.
Ok, now I'll tell you about my way way way exciting news. My dad called me last month to let me know that Justin had an interview at 1:30pm on January 7th to try and win $100,000 toward making the beginning of what can hopefully be made into another feature film. I didn't know many details, but dad just wanted me to pray. So that night, while devouring my delicious steak I had been craving from TGI Friday's, I thought to call Justin so I could find out the outcome and details. The phone was busy. He called me back about 5 minutes later.
"Hey Justin!"
"Jane, I got it!"
"What?!?!"
"I won!!!"
I was in shock!!! I know Justin wouldn't joke about this. He went on to tell me that when I called him he was on the other line being told he won the $100,000 toward his film. I could not believe it!!! Before I called Justin, I called my dad and listened to my dad tell me how Justin was positive he didn't win. There were several people who submitted a short film in attempt to get an interview and only 3 people were interviewed. Justin was one of them!!! That's already awesome! He said he could hear the people who interviewed before him laughing in the interview and clapping their hands. He thought right away they won. He was second to interview. By that time he said he was super nervous (nothing new for Justin:). For the interview, Justin had to have the beginning of his storyboard for his feature film he was hoping to be able to shoot someday. It actually is a short film that happens to be the opening of his feature, which worked out perfect. He had everything prepared and by the time they began asking Justin about his film, his nerves left him. He told them all about it and explained everything in detail using his script and drawings of the story board. He still left not feeling confident, but knowing he did his best. He and Amie even went to pizza that night to make Justin feel better. Haha, I thought that was funny. Little did he know he would receive a call that same night to find out he won! So exciting!! I called Amie later that night, and she explained to me that he has 8 months to shoot and submit the beginning of this feature film to this company. Once they receive it, they will submit it for him to several different film festivals....and that's when we will see if he will get a shot at making his full feature film. If people like the opening of it, they will fund him for his feature film. Holla!
Here's the best part: the interviewers told Justin they will be glad they have met him someday. They think he will go big!!! Ahhh!! I am so proud of Justin for sticking with his dream and working extremely hard to achieve something he's been working for his whole life! The Lord has blessed him with such an amazing opportunity. If nothing happens in the end, I know he won't give up. It's still awesome he had such a great opportunity. On Sunday they are presenting him the award...I guess at the big award ceremony. He does have to miss Elijah's first birthday party, but I guess it's worth it;)
Congratulations Justin!!! I love you and I'm so proud of you!!
I just found out last night that I am going to have another nephew!!! My oldest brother, Justin, and his wife, Amie are so excited to be having their first child. Well, I know Amie is stoked...Justin is probably excited but more nervous now. He has more anxiety than probably anyone I know. I have no doubt that he will be an amazing father and Amie an amazing mother. Now that this is the second baby in the family, eyes are beginning to wander to Scott and I out of curiosity. Nope!!! They will have to wait a few more years:) I still want to be selfish and have my husband all to myself for now. I'll just concentrate on loving on my nephews all the more. Anyways, Elijah (nephew #1) gets to have a boy cousin to play with that will only be a little younger than he....I think that's perfect. Amie is adorable with her growing baby bump!
