Successfully moved in!

I moved into our new home this weekend, and I have the sore muscles and fatigue to prove it! Many thanks to Greg (Amanda's brother) for helping with the bulk of the moving. It will take little more time to get things situated and completely unpacked (I have accumulated much more 'stuff' since my primitive college days!). After a few more trips to Home Depot and/or Target we should have this place in shape to host Amanda's family for Christmas. We're looking forward to being able to use this space and spend some quality family time in the new home :)

Anyway, I also wanted to let you know that Tyler just posted all our engagement pictures. He did a great job and we're very excited to share them with you all. If you're interested in taking a look, go to www.tylerjonesphoto.com and click on Client Access or just go directly to it here: http://www.tylerjonesproofs.com/Client-Access/11809-Vyn-Engagement. The gallery is “11.8.09 Vyn Engagement” and the password is “schneider”.

Anyway, it's been a long few days and I'm going to sleep for the first time in the new pad :) G'night.

We are officially home-owners!!!

We can now finally call ourselves home-owners. We signed our lives away this bitterly cold Colorado afternoon, ensuring that for at least the next 10-20 years our debt will heavily out-weigh our assets :)

This delightful, newly bestowed title did not come without some serious frustrations and delays, however... While the government is strongly encouraging first-time homebuyers to purchase, the mortgage companies seem to be doing exactly the opposite. Granted, if I was cooped up in a cubicle for 40 hours a week with little to no natural light, and nothing but a huge stack of papers in my inbox - not to mention a dead-pan boss incessantly breathing down my neck about how I didn't fill out the latest TPS reports properly - I would be a little bitter too! I won't bore you with the details of the hoops we had to jump through, but let me say that I was incredibly surprised that we only had to bump back our closing date once. I guess it didn't help that both Amanda and I were such transient people. We had to track down our rent checks for the past 12 months, which wouldn't seem like that big of a deal... but when we each lived in three different places, paying rent to three different people/companies, it got a little difficult.

At any rate, we are now proud owners of our first home. Now comes the fun part - cleaning! The previous owner had two beautiful golden retrievers, so this could make our job all the more fun. She was nice enough to leave plenty of cleaning supplies though. Anyway, we hope to move me in this coming weekend.

Then soon enough Amanda's family will be out for Christmas and we'll be having a painting party. "Merry Christmas, now grab a brush!" What a wonderful way to spend the holidays, eh?

If anyone else wants to join in on the fun just give me a call :)

Engagement pics

Happy American Thanksgiving to you all :)

Amanda and I are still in a food coma at the moment, recovering from a great day of fun, food, football, and more food in Appleton, Wisconsin with the Messerschmidt family (Amanda's mom's side of the fam).

Our evening with the Hoogendam family was very enjoyable - it was great to catch up with some relatives I hadn't seen in a while, and introduce Amanda to them at the same time. We also got to briefly check out Niagara Falls, which was partially hidden behind the billowing clouds of mist. At any rate, we can check that one off the list. Maybe later when we're rich and famous (either/or would really be quite alright, actually) we'll come back for a second look and stay a little longer.

On our way back to the States, we stopped off near Guelph to visit my Aunt MaryAnn and check out my old stomping grounds. It was great to see her as she wasn't able to make it to the Vyn gathering on Saturday!



Now to the initial reason for posting... the new engagement pics. Tyler Jones, our awesome photographer, just posted a sampling of our engagement pictures to his blog (see: http://www.tylerjonesphoto.com/blog/?p=228). I've selected a few of our favorites so far and posted them here. Thanks again Tyler - looking forward to seeing the whole batch!


Never knew we could look so good ;)


Aspen grove we spotted on our way to Squaw Pass


Yes, we live in Colorado, and it is B-E-A-UUU-T-I-F-U-L !!!







This was a fun experience, and even more exciting to have such tangible memories. It was getting pretty cold as we made our way toward the pass, but we survived, as did our two valiant photographers - thanks Tyler and Dusty!

Amanda's first trip to Canada!

This weekend I've been showing off my fiancée to the extended family. Not only had Amanda not yet met my extended family, she hadn't ever been to Canada before. Since I have the whole week off for American Thanksgiving I figured this would be the perfect opportunity for her to meet everyone. Although she was disappointed by the fact she couldn't get a stamp in her passport as we crossed the border, she has enjoyed meeting everyone and hasn't been too scared off yet. I recognized the potential risk in having her meet everyone before we're married, but then again I don't have any crazy aunts or uncles that might want to jump in her lap and lay a wet one on her (here's to you Aunt Rhonda!). Anyway, we had the party with the Vyn side last night, and now on to visit the Hoogendams tonight :)

In other news, we found a home that we absolutely love on the south side of Denver, and are currently under contract. We're in the final stages of gathering up all the paperwork to get approval for our mortgage, and we'll hopefully be closing when we get back home at the end of the month. It's a really cute ranch with a fully finished basement apartment - so if any of you are looking to make a trip out to colorful Colorado, you're more than welcome to stay with us. Here's a few pics to give you a quick glance:

Snowed in...

So Denver got hit with a respectable winter storm over the past couple days, totaling up to 27 inches in some parts of the Mile High city. While this type of snow might not shut down a robust Midwestern city, we Coloradans aren't used to snow that lasts longer than 24 hours. Snow removal in these parts is almost exclusively the sole responsibility of that giant ball of burning gasses in the sky (a.k.a. the sun).

At any rate, I have benefited from two consecutive snow days and am crossing my fingers for a third! I know I sound a little greedy, but if you had twenty pairs of eyes staring at you all day you'd be ready for a break too :)

On my first snow day I drove Amanda to work, and hung out at the Hospital cafeteria catching up on grading until the campus was officially closed in the early afternoon. We took advantage of the free time and headed to the mall with Amanda's brother Greg. We capped off the night with a riveting game of Rook.

Day 2 wasn't quite as eventful, but equally delightful. Amanda had the whole day off too and we hung out at her apartment most of the day watching movies and only left once to get some groceries.

Anyway, the scrumptious aroma of pumpkin pie is beginning to fill the air. I’m going to investigate…

Still house-hunting

For the past two months Amanda and I have been looking for a house - after all, what better way to decide what to put on our registry than to buy a new place and see what needs to be added! Anyway, it's been a painfully slow and slightly frustrating process thus far. We started out looking at townhomes and steadily bumped up our price limit after not finding exactly what we wanted. There have been a handful of houses we liked and a few we even put offers in on, but the long and short of it is people out here think it's perfectly ok to list their house for $30,000 above the appraisal rate! We still have our fingers crossed to get a deal done before the tax credit expires at the end of November.

This past weekend Justin and Sarah were in town with their two little ones, shopping in the big city and visiting friends and family. This gave my bride-to-be the opportunity to talk about dresses with her flower girl, Anna. While she was dissappointed that the wedding wasn't actually happening this weekend like she thought, she is still very excited to dress up like a princess next summer.

I also got to play baby-sitter as Justin and Sarah went shopping. Since Amanda was conveniently at work I had to roll up my sleeves and change my fourth diaper ever - and it was a solid one! Little Johnny sure downs his protein shakes :)

And on tap we'll have...

Coors light (this is a nod to our Rocky Mountain neighbor, Golden) and Pearl Street's Down Town Brown - really, did you think Amanda would want to serve anything less?

Next, this is where I'd tell you exactly what the menu is, except - as will soon be verified by the inventory we took at our first pre-marital counseling session - I’m not the best listener and can't remember much more than chicken and beef. Oh, and this will be served up buffet style, so you can have as much or as little as you like!

Ok, those are minor details compared to everything I else I have to report on. So things really fell into place while Amanda was home a couple weekends ago. Besides arranging the church and reserving the reception hall, she also found her dress (the exact one in the picture she had been carrying around as the example of what she wanted!), her bridesmaids’ dresses, a DJ, a cake maker, a florist and a caterer. Needless to say, she keeps making my job easier and easier.

We also started our pre-marital counseling a little over a week ago with Dave. We got out our #2 pencils (well, actually they were Dave’s) and took a 165 question scantron test with Likert scales and all – made us feel like we were back in school! I have to admit I did peak at some of Amanda’s answers, but it’s hard not to resist when half of the questions she’s answering were about me. Some of the questions really made us chuckle – like the one that stated, “I am often embarrassed by my partner”, or “My partner is a good listener.” Anyway, we’re excited to get the results back so we can start to discuss her strengths and my weaknesses :)

Ok, Ok, I know it's been a while :)

So, my only true responsibility thus far in helping plan the wedding has been to update this blog site weekly with bits of information and other random anecdotes... clearly I’ve been failing at that.

I am pleased to announce that Amanda has been holding up her end of the bargain! We now have a church, a date, a pastor, a reception hall, and a dj. For the first month and a half or so of our engagement there was a drought of post-worthy information to pass on due to the difficulty of finding a church, but now things seem to be rapidly falling into place.

What I can tell you thus far is that we will be tying the knot on Friday, July 30th, 2010 in lovely western Wisconsin. Part of the reason for choosing this date is that Amanda's parents were married on July 31st, and her grandparents on July 30th. The ceremony will take place at the English Lutheran Church in downtown La Crosse, followed by a reception at Stoney Creek, in Onalaska (I was really pulling for the French Lutheran Church, but I wouldn't want to be the only one that understands what's being said at the ceremony, so I graciously conceded!). Our good friend, Dave De Ridder, who graciously opened his doors to the then long-haired hippie from Oregon for an undisclosed amount of time, will be guiding us through our pre-marital counseling as well as officiating the ceremony.

Well, my duty is done for this week. I'm sure there'll be plenty more to update you on next week as Amanda is currently back in Wisconsin and making plenty of arrangements for her, ahem, OUR big day :)

The Engagement: (His perspective on) Her version

July 19, 2009. It started like any other day... except that I had a sneaking suspicion that Reuben was going to propose to me that day. :) We were back at my parents' place in West Salem for the weekend because my friend Andy was getting married up in "the Cities". I could tell that something was up because my family was acting very strange - some seemed to be avoiding me, others were way more talkative than normal. My mom brought Grandma home with her Saturday night (she almost never spends the night), and there were more relatives that were coming down Sunday for Tim's baseball game. So these were the early events that gave me the impression that this might be THE weekend.

Then, at church Sunday morning I had the sniffles and Reuben pulled out a stack of neatly folded tissues from his pocket - honestly, what guy carries around folded up kleenex on a regular basis! Then, we went to Fayzes for breakfast and my mom, who almost never goes out for breakfast after church, comes along and starts snapping all kinds of pictures.

Anyway, he asked if I wanted to go for a walk after breakfast. He started heading toward the more industrial part of town, so I steered him toward Riverside park instead. We walked for a while before returning to the car. Then he opens the trunk, pulls out a rose and tells me that he wants to take me somewhere. He said it wasn't far - at this point I figured everone stayed at Fayzes and we were headed back that way. Thankfully, we passed on by the breakfast joint! We walked into one of my favorite bookstores and this is where he started acting really strangely. We toured up and down a few isles and I kept asking him what we were doing. He replied something like, "I just wanted you to show me around your favorite book store." I started panicking - there was no way I was going to let him propose to me in front of a store full of strange people. We walked toward the front of the store and he grabbed a book - Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult (I already own a copy) - and asked if I wanted to open it. I said "not really" and so he grabbed the book and we walked out without having paid. I told him that you can't just take the book, you have to pay for it, but he smiled back and said he didn't see anyone trying to stop him so it must be ok.

We walked for what seemed like hours now, and found ourselves back at the park on the river. I picked the bench for us to sit on and then he gave me the book. I opened it and found the letter, behind which sat the most beautiful rock! He read the letter and then got down on one knee (those tissues came in handy again). I was very impressed with how clever the idea was. Oh, and I did say "Yes"!

The Engagement: His version

So my original idea for the proposal was to insert the ring into a book and propose at Amanda's favorite bookstore in La Crosse, WI. We were planning a trip back to her parents' place mid-July for a friend's wedding, and so I thought this would be the perfect time.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to plan it all on my own and so I enlisted the help of Phyllis, Amanda's mom, as well as the owner of the bookstore. I e-mailed the owner and asked him to reserve a copy of Jodi Picoult's latest book (this is Amanda's favorite author), and let him know that Phyllis would pick it up for me. Then after I insert the ring in the book, she would return it to the store, and the owner would keep the book behind the counter until I came in and signaled for the book to be set on the display table out front.

I arranged with Phyllis for her to do the leg-work, and we came up with a plan for us to be able to be downtown La Crosse at the right time. We would go to church that morning and go out for breakfast together afterward. Their typical breakfast spot is conveniently across the street from the bookstore. We would then meet up with the rest of the family at Tim's baseball game that afternoon.

Everything went according to plan for the most part. When we arrived late Friday night, the book was waiting with a crafty hole-punch tool in the night stand next to my bed. After saying goodnight to Amanda I went to work, carefully punching the holes and making sure not to cut out any of the words in the process. I fit the ring in and left it where I got it. Amanda and I went to the wedding that Saturday and her dad returned the book to the store.

Sunday morning: we went to church, then out for breakfast as planned. After breakfast I asked if she wanted to go for a walk, so we walked down to the riverside park. We came back to the car, and I picked up the rose (which Phyllis had also picked up for me) from the trunk and told Amanda that I wanted to take her somewhere. By this time she had already clued in to what was going on, and she kept asking me what I was doing. We walked in the book store and I made eye contact with the person behind the counter, but he didn't move. We walked around and I again made eye contact with the guy and he then put the book out. By this time Amanda was freaking out - I think she didn't want to be proposed to in a public place. So I changed plans quickly, took the book from the table and we walked out. Amanda thought it was odd that I just "stole" a book from the store but we kept walking back down to the park. I let her pick a bench to sit down at and I had her open the book. There was a letter I had inserted inside the front cover, and when she picked it up she saw the ring. I read her the letter and got down on one knee, and she said yes!

Our love story

I should preface the description of our love story by giving credit where credit is due... let's be honest, we never would have met if it weren't for craigslist (If this doesn't make sense, don't worry!).

Part I
We first met at a "holiday" party hosted by several of our mutual friends in Portland. I (Reuben) am positive that it was a Christmas pary - I mean seriously, Amanda was wearing a red shirt, it had to have been Christmas! However, Amanda claims that this was a Thanksgiving party - Caruthers brothers, can you shed some light on this? Whatever the festive occasion was, I guess I must have made an impression on Amanda that night despite my apparent lack of fashion sense!
Next came the blizzard of 07 - Portland received a record breaking 3-4 inches of snow which closed down the entire city for about two days. A bunch of us went sledding (using a wind surfing board) up on Mount Tabor. This was a special time, and it was becoming clear that something was brewing. One Sunday after church we started talking and found out that we both had class at PSU around the same time, and so I casually asked if she wanted to meet up and go out for dinner after class (talk about smooth!). She agreed, and I suppose this could be called our first date - although there was no hand-holding at this point! After dinner I asked her (not expecting that she would say yes) if she wanted to come to the Bible study I was leading that night through Intervarsity. She did say yes, and that was quite possibly the most nerve-racking evening - I think she could tell too!
Well, for the several months to follow we spent a lot of time together. I grew to appreciate the Golden Girls, and even started to eat more soluble fiber. Amanda left for Iowa in June to pursue her Masters in Public Health, and while we tried the long distance thing for a while it just didn't quite work out. We kept in touch regularly though, strengthening our friendship during our time apart. This was truly a blessing in disguise as both of us were able to grow individually during this year, causing us to be more ready the second time around.

Part II
This is the part where I come riding in on my trusty steed to sweep Amanada off her feet for good. You might laugh, but it's true... I was riding in the Sea-to-Sea bike tour that summer, riding from Seattle, WA to Jersey City, NJ in nine weeks. Our route conveniently lead us through parts of Iowa, and so I asked Amanda to come out and visit as we camped near Omaha one weekend. We spent an evening and a day together, walking and talking and enjoying each other's company. While the sparks didn't fly immediately, the seed was planted, and the following weekend Amanda came up to Madison to visit again. When she arrived with a bag full of home-made cookies I knew it was for real this time. Something clicked inside both of us around this time and we continued to grow closer even though we were still separated by thousands of miles. I became attached to my phone and couldn't wait until the end of the bike tour so that I could visit her in Iowa. For the next four months I kept Amanda up late almost nightly talking on the phone. We visited each other about once a month, first in September when I went with her to WI to meet the parents. Then in October we met each other in Denver to check out the city as a potential location to move to. And in November we went to California to visit my brother, sister-in-law and little neice.
After spending Christmas and New Years together in WI at Amanda's parents' place, we drove out to Denver together as Amanda was about to begin her internship at the Health Department. I returned to Portland to tie up loose ends, say my goodbyes, and I packed my car to the brim and headed east. It was great to finally be in the same city again and to do normal dating activities as a couple. While our work schedules haven't always allowed us to spend as much time together as we would like, we've been fortunate to take several trips together.

Part III - The Engagement... to be continued

My beautiful Sconnie

I think we can all agree that Amanda's life was instantly more complete the moment she first laid eyes on me.. and since she doesn't deem herself creative enough to write her own bio I get to make up whatever sounds best to me! She may insert comments periodically, either in areement or vehement disapproval...

Amanda is a Sconnie first and foremost (for those of you not familiar with the term "Sconnie", it refers to anything/anyone of or relating to Wisconsin) - she loves a good brat followed by a local micro-brew, oh and don't forget the squeeky cheese or a Friday night fish fry! Food is very important to her - she loves to cook... which is convenient because I love to eat. She actually focused in nutrition as well as physical activity in her Masters of Public Health program which she just recently completed. She is very conscious about eating healthy and staying active, and loves to inform others about healthy options. For example, she convinced me as well as several other of our Portland friends about the importance of eating soluble fiber - most commonly found in beans! To this day, we still credit her for our, ummm... regularity ;)

Amanda is well on her way to an illustrious career in health care. She began as a CNA as a wee teenager, caring for a rather colorful group of Catholic nuns. She went to nursing school and even travelled to India on a medical missions trip for a month. After graduating from nursing school and attending the Focus Institute in Colorado Springs that summer, she moved to Portland, Oregon to work on a contract position as a research assistant for a medical study. It was here that she met the love of her life, and although she ran away to grad school in Iowa, she knew in her heart that we'd get back together some day :) For her last semester in the MPH program she was accepted to do an internship at the Colorado State Health Department. Since her internship was only part time, she gratefully found a position working with her favorite population - you guessed it, geriatrics! Let's face it, she has a lot in common with these folks (other than her obvious young body and exceptionally good health!). She loves playing cards, particularly Cribbage and Canasta. She prefers going to bed before 9pm, although this doesn't happen nearly often enough according to her standards! And the Golden Girls is her favorite television show - she's even somehow converted me into a fan.

Anyway, since graduating from the MPH program she has most recently been hired by the University of Colorado as a Clinical Research Nurse in the oncology department. She can explain in much greater detail and with terms that mean little to the lay-person, but from what I gather thus far, she is coordinating research studies on the effects of new pharmaceutical drugs that are being used as treatment for certain cancer patients that come to the university hospital. She is learning a lot every day and is truly enjoying her new job.

Well, I'm sure I could go on for several more paragraphs, but for those of you who want more info on this woman who has brought me great joy - maybe you should first e-mail her to verify that everything said herein is true, and then get to know her a little more yourself. Her e-mail address is amanda.n.schneider@gmail.com.

No longer a "foreigner"

Ever since the age of sixteen when I moved with my parents from Ontario, Canada, to the grand state of Indiana, I've been comfortable as a foreigner in various places. After graduating high school I attended Calvin College in Michigan, studying French and Criminal Justice. My grand ideas of entering the field of criminology were laid to rest after a brief internship in the court system, and I decided to further develop my skills in French. I moved to a small town in Southeast France for a year and taught English to elementary school kids. It was during this time that I realized how much I enjoyed teaching.
It wasn't until a year after I returned to the US that I continued my studies, moving to Portland, OR, to pursue my Masters in French. My decision to move out west was inspired by several factors (the mountains, great cycling, proximity to the ocean, oh and the French program at PSU!), and I was ultimately rewarded with great friendships, a refined taste for both coffee and micro-brews, as most importantly - a lasting love that has lead me to where I am today (more on this story in another post).
Since moving to Denver at the beginning of the year, I found a job at a country club frequented by the likes of John Elway, John Lynch and several of Denver's most wealthy individuals. At the age of 26 I finally worked my first food-service job - I’ve heard everyone should have this experience at least once in their lives! At any rate, I am happy now to begin my teaching career this fall as a 4th grade French Immersion teacher at an international school in Colorado Springs. I'm sure to have my hands full, although everyone keeps telling me this is the best grade level to teach... I hope they're right :)
Well, this was a very, very brief synopsis of my life thus far. I know I didn't get much into my upbringing on the farm in Ontario - I think we all knew I wasn't headed for a career in agriculture anyway! Nonetheless, I am grateful for the opportunities I have had as a child, adolescent and dare I say... now as an adult? And while I still cling strongly to my heritage as a Canuck, I can no longer be labeled as a "foreigner" in this land - I became a citizen of the US last year.

Intro

As we recently got engaged we thought it would be nice to use a blog in order to update you on a few recent events as well as post information leading up to our wedding some time next summer (still trying to pick a date). For those of you who don't know either Amanda or Reuben, we'll start with a brief bio of each of us as well as a history of our relationship. Thanks for checking our site!