24, fat, and happy

I just celebrated my 24th birthday on Halloween. Crazy. One more year and I will be able to officially rent my own car. I think 25 is the year when you are finally legal to do anything. Cool, I guess. Anyways, it was a lovely birthday. For about 2 months now I have been reminding Scott that my birthday is coming up. I also didn't fail to remind him I just wanted some sort of surprise. I'm sure he got sick of me bringing it up constantly but I tried to always make sure i said it in a different way so it didn't seem as nagging.  I know, it's manipulative. He decided he was going to take me out to dinner on Saturday night. He asked me where I wanted to go. "Scott, you're supposed to surprise me, not ask me," I would say. Maybe that was a little too much pressure on the sweet guy. I knew going into marriage he was not a planner, but I also knew he could get creative if he wanted to (ex. engagement). He decided to make reservations at the melting pot on Saturday mid afternoon for Saturday evening. He learned quickly that won't work for the future and that if he wanted to take me to an upscale restaurant he would have to make reservations earlier than that day. He told me Saturday wouldn't work, but that he made reservations for Monday night instead. I was so excited, but a part of me was a little sad because I would have liked for it to be a surprise. Saturday my lovely mother came and pampered me:) She gave me a mani and pedi, highlighted my hair, and gave me the cutest bomber jacket. I love spending time with mom.  Sunday morning my dad and step mom and Scott's parents came to church with us.  Afterward, they came to our apartment along with Jered and Jordan and had a birthday lunch for me. Alan walked in the door last with a beautiful, fall bouquet of flowers in his hand. Fall flowers are my favorite and they look perfect on our kitchen table!
For lunch we had pizza, Trina made delicious funfetti cupcakes (my favorite), Lynn made a homemade Pasta House salad and then I opened presents from everyone. I loved everything.  Scott proceeded to open the closet and pull a gift off of the top shelf. It was in a shiny, silver box with a perfectly placed bow on top. I was already impressed with that (even though he didn't have to wrap it)!  Everyone sat around me while I slowly opened the box. Inside was the most beautiful pearl necklace!  It was one of the best gifts I've ever received. I would tell Scott every-so-often that I would love a piece of jewelry from him that I could wear often. He would always reply, "I bought you a diamond ring!"

To top off a wonderful birthday, Scott and I took the day off of work on Monday, hung out all day and then ended with an amazing experience at the melting pot. What a great birthday. I apologized for Scott for not trusting he could pull this all off...he did perfect. I left the melting pot feeling extremely fat and happy. Here is a little bit of our experience at the Melting Pot:

Scott felt a bit sick afterward...I of course felt wonderful!

Thank you husband for giving me a great birthday. I love you Scott.

Jesse turned 30!

My brother, Jesse, turned 30 years old on August 6th. My mom and step dad threw a surprise birthday party for him a few weeks later at a small cafe in St. Louis, called the Maya Cafe.

Before I tell you about the party, you need to know a little background about Jesse. First of all, he was born with Cerebral Paulsey. He has a hard time speaking well, his motor skills were affected and his mentality is probably at about an 8 year old level. He still enjoys life to the fullest. Jesse LOVES music. My step dad, Vince, is in a bluegrass band and Jesse thoroughly enjoys his music. When Jesse gets off work for the day (he works at St. Johns Hospital) he will probably play his guitar, listen to a band on the computer (most likely Johnny Cash), or watch the Cardinals play on T.V. so he can cheer on Albert Pujols. Those are what bring him the most joy in life. Occasionally, Vince will let Jesse practice with his band during the week or even play with them at a show (he doesn't mind that his guitar isn't plugged in). He doesn't know how to play the guitar, but he still loves to strum hard and sing loud.

So back to his party....
Josh and Chrissy (brother and sister-in-law) were moving to Austin, TX a few days later, so they came in town for one last time before moving. So with all the parties it brought the altogether again:)
Vince gathered a bunch of his friends for Jesse's surprise party and they formed a "torture chamber." Basically everyone plays an instrument that is not their main instrument. It was pretty bad, but extremely entertaining. All Jesse knew he was doing that night was playing music with Vince's band. He wore his best outfit: his khakis, tennis shoes, a button-up shirt with Cadillacs and guitars all over it, and his new favorite hat my mom bought him to play music in. He wouldn't wear his hat until he played music.

that's Jesse to the left.

Scott and I drove him to the cafe. There were large curtains we had to open before entering the room of all of Jesse's friends and family. I was a little nervous he was going to be really startled and not really know it was for him, considering his birthday was a few weeks before. I opened the curtain and everyone yelled, "Surprise!" Jesse, with a small, confusing smirk on his face just stood there and scanned the room of all of his friends and family. I tapped him on the shoulder, "Jesse, it's for you! It's for your birthday!" I think he finally got it when he saw his large birthday cake:)  He walked straight to his guitar, picked it up, and began playing with the band. The guests all just sat back, ate good food, and mingled while watching Jesse having the time of his life.  After he played, it was gift opening time. His gifts either consisted of Cardinals stuff or music stuff. He loved it all.  Scott and I bought him an Albert Pujols jersey.  We could hardly wait to give it to him because he is possibly Albert's biggest fan;) 

he knew it was a Cardinal's jersey right away

I know the party meant so much to Jesse. I was so glad we could have a party to celebrate another year with one of the most amazing people I know.  Jesse is such a wonderful brother. He is extrememly generous and tender-hearted. I am so thankful the Lord has blessed our family with someone who brings us more joy than we could ever have imagined:) Jesse, we love you!!!

big dreams. maybe someday...

So these past two days I have been itching for an adventure more than I think I ever have in my life. I don't really know what my deal is. I'm probably being discontent in life right now. It's hard to take an adventure when you live in a small town with the same few restaurants that close early and where there is just not much to do. We bought material to make curtains in our room, but I don't know how to sew. I have a sewing machine, but it doesn't work at the moment. My job is the same routine everyday and sometimes it gets old. But that is probably every job. I need to be thankful I have a job. I long to move somewhere awesome, like CO, where there are big, beautiful mountains and activities to do!

We need to find jobs there first. I would love to backpack around Europe someday before we begin having kids. How awesome would that be? When I went to Europe with the soccer team, I wished Scott was there experiencing all of the amazing site-seeing. I told him I wanted to begin saving for a trip to do this. Europe has such amazing architecture that you can't compare to the U.S. Check out the city of prague:

How beautiful is that. love it.
Another thing I think I am ready for is beauty school. I've always enjoyed doing peoples hair. Mom says I have an eye for it. We'll see. I would love going to work everyday, making people feel beautiful with a new do, wearing non-business casual clothes, and just be able to have some good conversations with my customers. It would be a flexible job too. Maybe someday when the time is right I will go to beauty school.

And then there have been plenty of times when I want to leave the U.S. and do missions work with Scott. I have always dreamed of doing missions alongside my husband. We both have talked about it, but a lot of work goes into planning that. It would just be so amazing to be directly involved in missions. Maybe we will go on a short term missions trip for a summer.

So many dreams.

I know God is in control. I know He has Scott and I in Greenville for a reason. I know He has a plan. Right now I will continue to dream, but try to be content and trust that God has better plans for my life than I do. If we stay in Greenville for awhile, I'll be just fine. We have good friends here and jobs...God is always faithful.

from Hayward to Schneider

June 19,2010.
The best day of my life.
I married My best friend, Scott Schneider.
A day that glorified God and brought us together as one flesh.