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.

putting life into perspective

Scott had nose surgery on Monday, March 29th. In medical terms, he had a deviated septum. They had to break his nose and basically reconstruct it. It was crooked, which meant his bone was blocking his whole left sinus in order for drainage to occur. He hasn't been able to breathe out of his left nostril for years. He claims the only time he has ever had a bloody nose was when Jered (his brother) drove over him with a go-kart when he was younger. From that day on, I guess Scott has not been able to properly breathe and enjoy using both nostrils. Poor guy. I went to his house Monday night after work and took care of him all day Tuesday. I drove back every night after work just to be with him. I hated seeing him in pain. He had gauze taped to the bottom of his nose to catch the drainage (nasty). They packed his nose with gobs of gauze and tubes so it could drain, but he got that removed on Wednesday. It was sad to see him not himself. I tried so hard to take good care of him, but I don't feel like I really knew what to do but shower him with kind words. I constantly told him, "You are still the most handsome man in the world," and "You will be able to breathe out of both nostrils before you know it," and "Good thing this is only 2 weeks out of your whole life!" I hope those words were encouraging enough. There were times when I found myself having extremely selfish thoughts. I couldn't wait for him to be able to play again. I couldn't wait to see his big, beautiful smile that is so contagious. I couldn't wait until we could laugh again and be silly again together. We sat in his parent's house, in their basement, with the lights off and the curtains closed. Depressing. I kind of looked at this whole thing as a test to see if I would be a great wife no matter what happened to my husband someday, even if something awful that would cause me to have to take care of him the rest of our lives. I realized that there is no one else I would rather take care of no matter the length of time. I also realized I can be extremely selfish. I mean, poor Scotty was the one that had the surgery and was in horrible pain for days. I would sleep on the same couch I slept on every night last week for the rest of my life if my future husband needed me to care for him. I think about this minor detail that occurred in our lives compared to what Christ endured for us on the cross and, once again, it puts everything back into perspective. He didn't have to die on the cross, but he knew there was NO other way for our sins to be forgiven. I didn't have to take care of Scott, but I would be the biggest jerk if I didn't. What an awful comparison to what Christ did, but I guess that's my point. Thank you Jesus for the cross. I'm glad I have that as a reminder of how to love, even if it means to care for someone when they can't take care of me back. Selflessness.