Red Right 23 X-Ray Zebra on one. Ready, BREAK!

So yes, Lindsay was right. One of my first post will be about sports. However, this is one where I'm playing rather than merely watching. We recently had our "Homecoming" game where our singles ward (from the Santa Monica Stake) played the singles ward from the Los Angeles Stake. It's a tradition going back to 2002, complete with traveling trophy. It's not as impressive as the Stanley Cup, but it still looks cool.

I was the starting left guard for the team. It's my job to protect the quarterback's blind side (BTW, if you haven't seen the movie The Blind Side I highly recommend you do so). I had a lot of fun. As far as the game, well.....

Since everyone knew this was my last game (as I will shortly be ineligible for a singles ward), I got to hold the trophy for the picture. We won 42-35. Fun times!

COOKIE OF THE DECADE

This is a picture of a rolo cookie. It's all alone on the plate. And that's for a reason. No rolo cookie ever ever ever lasts for longer than a few seconds. The only reason this one did is because I needed to take a picture for posterity.

When you bite into a rolo cookie you first bite through a thin layer of crunchy baked sugar, then through layers of soft sweet chocolate dough, and then voila! you discover a squishy yet chewy caramel scrumptiousness that is too luscious to be believed. It's a gooey rolo candy - buried deep in the layers of dough, baked to perfection.

These cookies win the cookie of the decade award. By a long shot.

If you haven't tasted a rolo cookie well then you just haven't lived.

Another memorable trip to Seattle

After going to Vancouver last week I got the chance to pop down to Seattle for a couple of days. I experienced Paseo for the first time and really loved it, ordering their popular pork roast and feeling very tempted to go for another one the very next day. It's always good to stay in the Mercer Island house and probably a bit more relaxing this time without the kids but the one memorable experience of the weekend was our (failed) boat excursion on Saturday. It's been a very long time since I've been out on Lake Washington with the boat (or any boat for that matter) and because it's been so long it brought back the memories of our rookie boating days back in 1993 when we bought that '73 or '74 Stingray and had some not so fond memories due to a few rookie mistakes that we made (of course that also brings back the memories of the Beazer boat ploughing into the back of our van but another story I guess). This time, almost immediately after taking the wheel, backing the boat out in rough conditions and feeling like an experienced boater again, I ran into some MAJOR problems with the engine not starting. We paddled around aimlessly in the dock and bumped up against other boats as a result. After all these years I thought surely us Schneiders were better boaters than this. Unfortunately we never did get the boat going and had to abort. So it did raise the question - were we really just looking like rookies out there or has the Mariner engine that has served us so well for so long finally given in? Who knows but either way we made it to Ivars in the end by car and ultimately had another great visit to Seattle so thanks Mom and Dad for your good hospitality again.

MIA

Hey everybody-
I've been a bit MIA over the last few weeks. I've got a lot of balls in the air, one of them is that I'm obsessed with how to be a better parent. It all started this summer when I caught myself yelling at my kids. I NEVER, EVER used to yell at them, and I didn't want to start. I wanted to know how I could be better. The answer has been a lot more complicated than I initially thought. I've been researching everything from Bestsellers in the early 80's to books by the Dalai Lama and other Christian Faiths, but mostly just a lot of parenting books. I've gotten a lot of good advice, from discipline to scheduling to nurturing creativity and it's been fun and I can say I'm a better parent than I used to be. And my kids are behaving better too, but there's a lot more to learn. I've been documenting everything on my blog, it helps me to learn when I share. I love how blogging can provide that outlet.

Apartment Decor

Living in an apartment with roommates is a lot of fun, as I'm sure we all know by now. It's fun to be independent and to take care of your own stuff, but there are certain things lacking in our apartment that certainly aren't lacking at home! For example, since we don't have a dishwasher, dishes tend to people up to an astronomical amount that is both overwhelming and depressing to see. I had to document the unsightliness of a particularly bad batch of unwashed dishes. The other thing lacking is a certain homey decor. For a while, our walls were completely bare, but luckily we recently remedied the situation by buying a bunch of posters online for cheap. Now everyone can comment on/make fun of our poster choices! It's definitely a good conversation starter for our visitors.

s u n s e t

I'm spoiled because I saw some spectacular urban sunsets the last couple of days. The first was when I was leaving the mall. I stepped out, facing west, at just the right moment when the light was perfect and set the whole side of the building aglow. It looked so cool! The sunset off of a building effect is one of my favorites- how a building's side is the right tool to reflect the beautiful softness of dwindling light.

As if that wasn't amazing enough, I saw ANOTHER cool sunset the next evening on my drive home from Melrose. I finished my errand there and caught my breath because of the INCREDIBLE beauty of the sky. Cool cloud formations are pretty neat, but last night was something special. The light was just right once again, and it ignited the clouds so I could see all their dips and swirls. They formed such amazing shapes, enhanced by the cool peachy, pearly, and silver colors they were made into from the sun! It was awesome!

Even more fun about seeing something cool is sharing it with someone… I was
triple-y spoiled by getting a text from Spence about the ‘REALLY cool sunset outside ....’ I had to agree.

Walden II

About a month ago we were invited to hang out with Nathan, Lisa and a few other friends on "the land". It was beautiful. It wasn't as soul stirring as was our original Walden experience this past summer. Maybe because this time we had our kids with us or maybe because there were a bunch of other people with us or maybe because we had access to running water and electricity (thanks entirely to solar paneling). I felt a lot more removed from nature but I think there are advantages and disadvantages to being removed. I enjoyed the advantages after a pretty busy summer as well as having the kids with us. There really is something quite special about being a minority in the wild, children feel it too, the space, the fresh air, the natural adventure found in trees, rivers and open land.

Oliver found a frog, you can barely make it out in this pic but it's there.

Special Visits

We've had a few dozen fabulous visitors at our place in Seattle this summer, but I've got to say that -

the extra special visits came from two of the Schneidz. That's because we got them all to ourselves :) One of them won't be a Schneider for much longer... Linds came to visit a couple weekends ago. Dad and I asked her to come up for a little retreat before she changed her name. We managed to eat our way just fine through the market.

And Jordan, who's hung his hat on the other side of the pond for so long, was able to take a little detour to Seattle on his way home from Vancouver last weekend. We finally got to go to the long-anticipated Paseos, hang out in the boat - there's a story there :) - and just have fun.

We had SUCH a good time with each of them . One on one time with adult children - sons, daughters, and sons and daughters-in-law - is pretty hard to come by. So Dad and I felt pretty special. Thanks for some great memories!

Share a round

We’ve had a reprieve from winter here in Seattle and in Edmonton. The weather has turned warm after a brief cold snap. This has extended the golf season. Let's just say that golf is a very addicting game. That's partly because its a stern mental and physical test. It’s also an excellent way to communicate with others. As you walk the fairways together in a shared struggle with nature, bonding automatically occurs. You learn a lot about your companions – how they react to stress, how they follow the rules, and what challenges they're facing off the green. For that reason I hope we can all share a round sometime.

All right let's skip to the chase- Part 2

Most of you know what happened and what my answer was to Spence's question, but here it is for the blog's record.

The first clue- explained we were going on a treasure hunt, that we had a chauffeur, and where to go first!

Sure enough, Spencer's roommate who we called 'Jeeves' was there to take us to our first spot! We enjoyed chatting about why this place was significant to Spence and I.



My roommate came up as we entered the first restaurant we went to together, and handed us... a clue! Yay... we were on the right track and it was wonderful to see her...



Our buddy who we have gone for lunch with and viewed Basketball games with, (up close!) met us at our next stop- The Troubadour, where we saw a few bands play one fun night...



We kept on the music theme and went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, where Spence and I saw the LA Philharmonic on Valentine's weekend. We were greeted and presented with our 4th clue!



One of 'the brethren,' Spencer's old time group of friends, was at the stadium, where we stopped next. His was the only car in fact! There was no game that night. We were happy to have found the spot where he could give us clue #5! Success!



Yay for friends in plotted places! The final clue led me down the steps from the pier to... the beach! I spotted my Spence as I peered over the railing, and it was an exciting moment! He looked spiffy!!



Spencer was so sweet in his proposal that I started to cry with joy when I said yes. Here we are right after it happened.


It was the perfect start to being engaged!

My Beautiful Wife

We've been through a lot this week. We lost our long running (and long suffering) nannie, Isabel. It was an awkward transition as she decided not to actually tell us she was leaving. This threw our entire routine off. We've come to deeply rely on her over the last 2 years. That said, we've been moving toward a transition for a while as we need her less and less desperately. Additionally, Melissa has done a wonderful job of upping her game. I think the kids will be benefited by not having a 3rd parent in the house. I'm glad to be a partner with her in raising our kids. Thank you, Melissa!

brief visit to Vancouver

Last week I got the chance to stay in Vancouver for a few days for a course. I had heard a lot about Vancouver even before the Olympics but have never really got the chance to stay for very long. I think as a family we only ever went a couple times to visit Janice & Andy but they didn't ever live in proper Vancouver if I remember we never really did long visits anyways. But as for the city on the whole I was really impressed - the downtown area is very lively and busy with an interesting mix of old and new buildings. The rest of the city from what I saw seemed very international, especially Asian and the first Tim Horton's I went into had pretty much all Asian workers which seemed to underscore that point. Also the fact that there are so many recreational activities and mountains so close adds another dimension to an already impressive city which also seems to be growing. So after seeing a lot of Seattle it was interesting to compare Vancouver which must have been even more impressive to visit during the Olympics.

Randomness

It didn't happen when Linds and I started to date, it didn't happen when I went up to Edmonton, and it didn't happen when I proposed (and she said yes), but now it's official: I'm part of the family now that I have the power to blog. Yay!

Usually when someone joins a new group, they need to introduce themselves. "Hi, my name is Joe and I'm an alcoholic" or something like that. I figure that's in order here. However, instead of the boring things like where I went to high school, how many siblings I have and what my zodiac sign is, I figure let's go with some random things about me.

1. I have dyed my hair toxic waste orange, bleached blonde and what was supposed to be fire engine red, but faded into pink. No pictures of the pink hair exist. It was for swim team; right before the big state competition, since we're going to shave it all off anyway, you might as well have fun with it. So I did.

2. There is a group of friends that I'm a part of, and we refer to ourselves as The Brethren. All six of us have been friends since high school (10+ years), four of us since middle school (15+ years) and I have been friends with one of them since kindergarten (23 years). And counting.

3. My parents moved to their current house when I was six weeks old and have been there ever since. It's nice to be able to go back to the house you grew up in. And finally....

4. I'm marrying Lindsay. Hopefully everybody already knew this. If not, well, surprise!

Man vs. Food

So as you hopefully know I love food. A really tough day can quickly turn into a good one with a nice sumptuous feast of food that you love or have prepared and shared. I've realized that some of my friendships are based exclusively around food because it's really the only time we see each other. Eating good food really takes the stress off and is a great way to get to know somebody.

It can also be relieving of character. How does the person eat? Are they slow or fast? Do they use their hands? How much do they eat? Generally speaking i've noticed that big big eaters have big, flamboyant, in your face personalities while people who eat little are more reserved and quiet. Just as an example you can tell that Mom is very proper, refined and polished because she always eats with napkin head is never down and elbows are never on the table unless the main course is done.

This is why I am excited I discovered Man vs. Food. This guy takes it to a whole new level. He defies propriety when it comes to eating. You can tell that he loves the food from the way he describes it and the energy that he uses. I also love how he is NOT a health nut and focuses on greasy deliciousness such as the machine gun sandwich that is basically just a combination of cheese and tonnes of other stuff that has been deep fried. It's a great show because as I said the way a person eats and what they eat says a lot about them and as a result I can tell that the Man vs. Food guy is pure gold.

Calling all Utah Schneiders!!!!!!

I found the following review online and for a second wished we lived in Salt Lake City. Please allow me to live vicariously through you Utah Schneiders - (my apologies to Coleen and OJ for posting this after your road trip - you did make it to Salt Lake right?)

ACME BURGER COMPANY
275 South 200 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

"It was luscious. I never thought I’d say that about a burger joint, but take a look at the burgers here, and tell me, just tell me, if the burgers were to live up to their descriptions, would you be interested? Because the descriptions totally fall short of the actual experience. I was really tempted by the truffle burger, because I LOVE truffles, but I finally settled on the 3-bean burger, because it was house-made and every house-made veggie burger I’ve had has been awesome (except the ones I tried to make myself, too wet, didn’t hold together) and, at the server’s suggestion (because she likes it that way), I added bacon. Then she came back to me and said, she’d been thinking and she knows I like truffle flavor and they flavor the truffle burger with the truffle oil blend, and would I like them to cook my 3 bean burger in the truffle oil? Oh sure, twist my arm. And it came with little sautéed tomatoes and artichoke hearts and swiss cheese (extra) and some sauce, and with that truffle oil…. I just don’t know how to tell you how amazing it was. I swear, it was Burger Nirvana.

I asked the server if they do truffle-3bean combo often, and she said no, she’d only thought of it because I’d told her I love truffles. And I asked her, can I request it again? And she smiled and said, sure. Which means, you can have it too. If you want."

Modern Art?

To the untrained eye, this pretty picture may just look like some crazy photo or painting from the modern era. However, little did you know that it's actually an electron micrograph image of the small intestine! This, and similar images of body tissues, is what I get to look at in my microscope every week in my Tissue Biology class. I feel like I am now zooming in on the body after my Anatomy experience. It's a cool class, but the lab quizzes are pretty tough! We'll see how it goes.

A day off

So wednesday the program gave us the day off. It came after we just turned in a huge project. Wednesday did have a bit of a weekend feel to it. I was able to do my laundry, and not have to worry about assignments due for the day. I even got to watch the second half of a soccer game. I was also able to do the unthinkable, get a little bit ahead in my studies. Unfortunately the weekend will consist of lots of studying again. But now the stress level has gone down a bit so that is always nice. The accounting program continues to deliver a few benefits, today I received another free lunch from them. So things are still good in that regard.

First Day of School

It's amazing that after roughly 18 years of school I still get nervous on the first day. Ar first I was very annoyed how all these pictures would get taken and Mom would take us shopping and summer would be over and I wouldn't get to do what I wanted anymore. Now I definitely miss the photo taking and Momma taking me shopping but I don't miss having to sit at a desk and be a good boy because that was kinda tough as a kid ....... and still is as an adult. However, last Wednesday is very likely the second last time I will ever have a first day of school again.

In second year it so far seems more manageable like they don't scare you by firing off questions that you don't know the answer to just to make sure that you're in law school now and you better work your butt off so I like that but I think overall this semester will be more work because I have to write two major papers and there are a lot of readings. And I want to do better than I did my first year so it may be a long couple of months but just remember Mom I still love you and Goo I'm happy you're getting married in Edmonton and Christmas this year will be wonderful.

ON OUR WAY HOME

Nana and I have been on our way home for the past week, road tripping through the Southwest. One of our stops was at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City. We loved the production of Macbeth.

The story is set in 11th century Scotland. Two Scottish generals, Macbeth and Banquo, are returning in triumph from battle when they are met by 3 witches. They give Macbeth 3 prophecies, two of which are shown to be true. The last prophecy, that he will be king, takes hold in his mind and becomes an obsession which leads to his destruction.

I recognized several gospel principles in the play. One is that Satan will often try to deceive us by using some truths amidst his many lies. Our minds are fertile ground for good and bad ideas. If we're to have success we must fill our minds with good thoughts and ideas from the source of light. We must recognize the darkness and shun it. Macbeth failed to do that, and the result was one of the greatest tragedies in literature.

This is good stuff to know when you're trying to find your way home.

We highly recommend the festival. Hope you all get a chance to go there.

"L'arte d'arrangiarsi"

Here's a post from my blog that was fun to write:

"There’s (a) wonderful Italian expression: l’arte d’arrangiarsi – the art of making something out of nothing. The art of turning a few simple ingredients into a feast, or a few gathered friends into a festival. Anyone with a talent for happiness can do this..." Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

I once bought 'idea' cards listing fun activities to do with kids using household items. Sensory boxes, flashlight exploration, ball jars, crumpled newspaper in handkerchiefs... They all sounded good but unfortunately I was far too disorganized to actually do any of them. The flashlight batteries were always dead, I couldn't find anything resembling a handkerchief (although I could have sworn I had something I wore in college in this drawer-or was it this one?) or none of the balls fit in my jars. If I actually could pull it together my kids rarely got engaged. When I was baking they loved to smell the spices, but if I gave them cinnamon sticks at random they ran away. Of course, I'd be irritated they didn't appreciate my efforts of running around frantically.

I'm just one of those intense people whose instinct is to go big with the planning and use idea card projects and see everything turn into the best memory ever. But I'm learning that as a mom of so many kids, sometimes simple is the best way to get to special, and focusing on my kids is better than focusing on a handkerchief-hunt. By simple I don't mean giving up or being uninspired but listening to the moment, using what's within arm's reach, and following my kids' cues to find inspiration. Maybe, by practicing l'arte d'arrangiarsi I can have more fun and be less stressed when I let go of expectations and follow what works at that moment.

Yesterday when our 'Creative Play' time popped up on the schedule, I had nothing planned and wanted to keep it simple. At first I panicked, I couldn't think of anything and my kids weren't helping! But I closed my eyes and tried to listen. My older boys seemed up for a little project, nothing big but something they could sink their teeth into. I remembered during storytime last week they'd asked a lot of questions about what a scarecrow was. When I saw an old lamp we were getting rid of just sitting out on the driveway something told me it would be the perfect scarecrow stand.

With the scarcerow photo as reference they helped me find a random cardboard tube for the arms. Julian solved the problem of how to attach it to the stand by handing me a firewire cable (how oddly genius!) It was strong yet easy to work with.

Caleb brought shoes with laces like the photo and Julian set up the pants with a coat hanger. Caleb coloured in hands and ripped a paper for the face, which was a little small but the right shape. He drew it in himself. I was surprised at how 'into it' they were, going beyond the photo with their own creations. I was proud of their solutions for the little issues we hit. Who knew a junky old lamp, cardboard tube, and firewire cable could turn into an easy hour of fun and a way to connect with my sons? Our combined interest, investment and enthusiasm was what made the project a success. At one point I got a little giggly when they started singing "What works? TeamWork! What works? Teamwork!" (I have no idea where that came from...) because I thought I felt a tiny, tickly sprinkling of l'arte d'arrangiarsi magic hit us just then.

Start of Fall Semester

So the fall semester has started for me now and I didn't get my second post in for august. Anyway, I have now started the accounting program here at byu and things have already been really intense. I don't know how my life will be more than eating, sleeping, and studying accounting for the next few months, but so it is. I thought I'd try to get a post off before my classes start this afternoon. I will be working alot with 4 other people, because we have been assigned to work together for all group projects this semester. All of them are guys. In fact they told us that 79% of the accounting program students are male. There are 275 students in the program. Although the program is crazy insane and consumes pretty much all my time, there has been one notable benefit in that the program has provided us with free lunch on two occasions in less than a week, and the lunches were really good. So hopefully we can get more free food.