Just doin' life... (old)

So, it's been a while...

2007-09-22T07:01:00.001-07:00

At the request of many (ok, mostly just Bryan, many times), I have decided to update this blog. It may take a while to get completely up-to-date, as we have actually been doing many things since I last posted, but here goes my attempt...

Oh, and also at the request of Bryan (the self-proclaimed "brains of the operation") we have moved to scheffersblog.blogspot.com . Hopefully this will eliminate the "why is there no 'g' in 'doin' conversation...

So come find us at scheffersblog.blogspot.com !!!!

Cubs Win!!!!

2007-08-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

On Saturday the whole Mulder family was in town and they took us with them to the Cubs vs Mets game! It was a great time. Thanks so much Mulders!

Here's Wrigley Field, known to some as Cubs Stadium...hehehe...

This is Alfonso Soriano. If you look closely you can actually see the ball mere moments after being hit. He grounded out to the pitcher.

This is Ricky Henderson, 1st base coach for the Mets. I took his picture because Bryan said he is supposedly some kind of pretty good player... I personally didn't see him do much.

*** Many thanks to Bryan for adding the actual baseball info to this post.

Cubs Win- Part II

2007-08-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

And now, for a less baseballish picture, here is a picture of the cotton candy man that kept getting in the way of our view.

Lyndsay, Mike, Bryan and I enjoying our seats. Look closely and you can see the girls in the row behind us trying so very hard to duck out of our picture. Haha.

Oh for the love of spellcheck...

2007-08-06T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the new dry cleaners that moved in down the street a few months ago. I laugh every time I go by it.

Hilarious.

Stay tuned for more pictures from the weekend... Cubs Win!

5K

2007-08-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Bryan and Aaron decided to run the Betty Scheck Shuffle 5K through the streets of North Riverside. They actually ran 4 miles on their own before this, but were still determined not to "get beat by any girl!" Unfortunately for them, most of the Betty Scheck Shufflers were on the track team at the local highschool, so they did indeed get beat by at least 1 girl. But they had a good time, and the $25 we paid for him to run on the same streets he runs on every day for free went straight to the American Cancer Society, so I suppose it's all ok.

Cinder got to run too, and boy did she look tired by the end!

2 years

2007-07-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today is our 2nd anniversary- yay! Yesterday we had a Day O' Fun downtown to celebrate, as we knew we would both be working today. We spent all day walking around, looking at boats, doing some very minimal shopping, and of course, eating. PF Chang's = yum! It was so much fun to just spend time together with no real agenda or place to be at any certain time. Plus the weather was gorgeous, making it a great day to be downtown :)

Here's Bryan's pensive look. Clearly thinking deep thoughts about how wonderful the past 2 years have been. Or how wonderful Potbelly's was a few minutes earlier.... One of those for sure.

Here we are in Crate & Barrel, picking out our favorite couch for *someday*...

Another 15 mile journey!

2007-07-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

We took another 15 mile run/rollerblade today through the forest preserve. 10 minutes faster than last time! And yet, my ankles are just as sore... Hmm...

Here comes Bryan around the bend...

A little bit closer now...

Pretty trees...

Bryan requested this picture be taken to show what his view was the whole time...

Deer!

2007-07-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

Today I took my camera on our run/blade, so I was on the deer lookout the whole time. We saw 16 deer! 9 does, 5 bambis, and 2 bucks.

This was the first buck we saw, with little shorty antlers.

This deer came right up to the trail and then ran across right in front of me.

Aren't the trees pretty? Makes you almost forget you're in the middle of Chicagoland...

This was the biggest buck I have ever seen, right at the end of our trip. He was enormous! And just standing there right off the trail, staring at us. Very cool to see so close.

Satan's Lair

2007-07-28T17:47:00.000-07:00

This is known as Satan's Lair. Ok, maybe we're the only people who call it that, but I think it's fitting. It really is odd to have something this creepy in the middle of our lovely Forest Preserve. I can't even imagine what goes on there at night.

I was looking for a place to sit down for a minute at this point on our run/blade, however, the broken glass....

...scary red spiders...

...and blood... (???!!)

... made Satan's Lair not quite the rest stop I was looking for.

Bambi

2007-07-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

This might have been my favorite part of our whole journey. I happened upon 3 of the tiniest little bambis you ever did see. White spots and all! They were so so sweet!

They ran off after a few minutes, but I found them again right around a bend in the trail, only this time they were with their mom! They ran right up under her and started nursing.

Horrified.

2007-07-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Imagine my horror when Bryan found This monster waiting in the bathtub when we got home from dinner last night. It's too bad you can't really tell how big it was, but trust me, it was a monster.

There is never just One spider. You know he has friends all over this house now, just waiting to scare me out of my skin.

The war is on.

Wedding Season: 7-21-07

2007-07-23T20:16:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Josh and Michelle Koning who got married this past Saturday in Kalamazoo. Josh and Bryan were friends in grade school, junior high, high school and finally roommates in college. It was great to be a part of their wedding- especially seeing old pictures of the guys together in the slideshow! What a fun time!

The happy couple.

And another happy couple...

And one more happy couple... Andy and Julie Kiel. More friends from high school/college.

I thought the flowers were very pretty and deserving of a picture as well.

Wedding Season: 7-21-07 (part 2)

2007-07-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here we have the groomsmen advising Josh on how best to remove Michelle's garter.

Next we all watched while Nate Mejeur (the catcher of the garter toss) try to put the garter on Jill Koning (the catcher of the bride's bouquet). After much pressure, and having his previous tries not accepted by the DJ and the crowd, Nate finally gave in and used his teeth on the garter. This greatly entertained the crowd, and made for a hilarious picture.

Driving, driving, driving

2007-07-17T22:35:00.000-07:00

Since we spent so much time in the car this past weekend on our way to and from the Pennsylvania wedding (see previous post), I thought I'd show you what the majority of our trip was like. Although we went through 5 states on our way to the wedding (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, for those of you who were trying to picture it and see if I counted correctly), it feels like Ohio most of the way. Ohio lasts forEver.

This is what Ohio looks like- completely boring for hours on end:

This is what Bryan and Nate look like when driving through Ohio for hours on end:

Wedding Season: 7-14-07 part 2

2007-07-17T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here the boys have a little fun before the ceremony...

Wedding Season: 7-14-07

2007-07-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we drove out to Pennsylvania for Kevin and Abby's wedding (congrats!). Bryan was in this wedding (groomsman #4 if you look closely), so I sat in the balcony to see what kind of pictures I could get with my new Digital Elph. As it turns out, nothing too fabulous happens without a flash, but it was a nice try...

Wedding Season: 7-7-07

2007-07-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

It's true, wedding season is officially here. 7-7-07 brought the wonderful wedding of Teresa and Drew (congrats!), plus I got to see my very own Christy Schmidty, which is always fabulous :)

15 miles!

2007-07-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

Today Bryan decided to go for a long run as part of his marathon training, and we figured the only way I could join him on this fun was if I was on wheels. So I strapped on my rollerblades and off we went!

On our journey through the forest preserve we saw: 2 bucks, 2 does, several squirrels, 1 dead chipmunk, many swarms of bugs, and countless bikers, runners, joggers, and walkers (with and without dogs). Oddly enough, we did not see anyone else on rollerblades. This can only mean one of two things: 1- All of the other 'bladers knew that the trail was wet and therefore quite slippery in some spots. 2- Rollerblades are no longer considered Cool. Either way I missed the memo.

15 miles later Bryan is understandably exhausted (longest run yet!), and I am more sore than I probably should be, seeing as I was on skates. A good time though!!!

And they're off!!

2007-07-04T06:41:00.000-07:00

It's true, our dear friends have actually left us for GR. We are already missing them terribly!!! You can read all about their new adventures in residency and downtown GR here. I know we'll be checking up on them daily...

4 hours? I don't think so.

2007-06-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

To truly appreciate the wonderful time we had at the lake, the story of how we got there simply must be told.

Amber: "It's probably going to take you almost 4 hours to get there on Friday, just so you can be mentally prepared for that."

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. After taking 2 hours to get out of Chicago (I could have walked to Indiana faster), next thing we know we are in a parking lot on the Indiana Toll Road. A put the car in park, turn it off, and get out to mingle with the truckers Parking Lot.

What do we do? What CAN we even do? How long can they keep us trapped here? At 0 miles an hour... maybe forever. My bladder is not going to make it forever. Surely the Green Bean can't hop the median like some SUVs are doing... Do we turn around and drive on the shoulder hoping for some other way to cross the median? What do they do to U-turning drivers on toll roads? Surely the exit toll people will notice on our ticket that we got on going the other way... Maybe it's a fine? How much are we willing to pay to get out of this mess? $20? $30? Who cares anymore, get me out of here!

After our highly illegal trip the wrong way down the gravel on our way to cross the median(with lots of friends of course), followed by several miles of backtracking through Indiana before the toll road would let us off (Chicago was just trying to pull us back into their traffic jam!) we ultimately ended up in an ENORMOUS line to get off the toll road. A manual pay-your-toll-to-a-real-person toll booth, this was no I-Pass lane folks. But this line was at least moving. Slowly but surely, the end was in sight. While in this line, we noticed that the police had completely shut down the toll road going that direction and were forcing all the cars to get off. I guess they decided that an overturned semi blocking ALL lanes of traffic, allowing NO cars through was reason enough to reroute people.

Best line of the night:

Bryan called Ryan with the news of our latest delay, asking him to check on a map to see what other options we could have. Ryan calls back a few minutes later with the news...

Ryan: "You're in luck my friend! About 5 miles ahead of you you can get off the toll road and---"

Bryan: "Hahaha. You don't understand. We haven't moved 1 centimeter since I last talked to you. The car is turned off. Michelle's outside. 5 miles ahead does me NO good."

Ha ha ha.

A few shots from our 6.5 hour adventure:

Devils Lake

2007-06-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went with Ryan and Amber to the Cox Family Cottage on Devils Lake (Thank you Coxes! We had a blast!!!).

We spent a lot of time outside, grilling, boating, swimming, playing Euchre. If it possibly could be done outside, it was.

The boat was not always as easy to start as one might think...

Here Bryan assists by holding the boat close to the dock so we didn't float out into the lake before the boat was for sure on and staying on.

Our job was simply to enjoy the ride. And we did.

The end result was well worth the effort. What could be more fun than boating around a beautiful lake with our best friends??

Beaver Box

2007-06-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

When not boating or grilling, boys loved playing Beaver Box (AKA, Cornhole). Quite amazing how much this simple game entertained them for hours on end. Throwing beanbags never gets old!

The girls watched the competition of manly skill from this convenient perch.

No, YOU're the funniest...

2007-06-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

When we are all together, Bryan and Ryan pretty much spend the whole time cracking each other up.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

I call this sequence "Seize the Moment"

2007-06-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

let's pose in our yellow lifejackets, that'll be funny...

hmm... I can think of something funnier than that...

Great Times

2007-06-25T21:20:00.001-07:00

Who could ask for more?

Woody??

2007-06-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

Bryan has now had two patients tell him he looks just like Woody Harrelson from his days on Cheers. What do you think? Do we have a celebrity look-a-like among us???

Cherry Pickin'

2007-06-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

Who knew there was a cherry tree in our backyard?

Fun With Friends

2007-06-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Last night we went out to Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co. . Great atmosphere, great food, and great friends. We couldn't ask for more!

Unfortunately, the people we asked to take this picture didn't quite understand that we wanted the Whole sign in the picture. Oh well...

Comets Win!

2007-06-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to Berrien Springs to watch Corey's baseball team play in regionals for the state baseball tournament. They won their first game 10-0 and won again 4-2 in the second game, making them regional champions. Just 3 more wins and they become state champs!

Here is Corey on 2nd after hitting a double in the second game. Soon after he scored the first run for the Comets!

Regional champs, enjoying their trophy.

Euchre

2007-06-05T16:31:00.001-07:00

This is what we do now that we don't have to study or write papers every night:

Amber and I have a simple strategy: Win. Every time. Almost as important is our second strategy: Call it. Almost every time. So far so good!

Bryan and Ryan can often be found enjoying coffee together- morning, noon, and night some days.

Dogs

2007-06-05T16:16:00.000-07:00

These are two Duck-Tolling Retrievers- the kind of dog that Bryan is now convinced we will someday have. They are like Golden Retrievers, but smaller and prettier. Cinder is full grown and Nadia (with the white on her face) is still a puppy, and ever so adorable. They are Aaron and Ashlee's dogs, and I have to say that Cinder is the first big dog I have ever liked, she is very sweet. Maybe our future does hold a bigger dog than I had imagined...

Wasn't me...

2007-05-30T07:24:00.001-07:00

Wasn't me...

Somebody's throwin' stuff...

Fun with the Sargent Family

2007-05-30T07:17:00.001-07:00

We had a great time seeing John and Kristy, and of course, the star of the evening- sweet baby Jeremiah. What a cutie!

Carolyn and Uncle Bryan

2007-05-30T07:07:00.001-07:00

What's not to love???

Blue Man Group

2007-05-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went downtown to see the Blue Man Group (many thanks to M&D Scheffers!)

At one point early on in the show, all 3 blue men came out into the audience and prowled around, staring at people, myself included, just like this:
Then they went back onstage to do some more crazy blue man things. However, it wasn't long before they came back into the crowd. This time all 3 blue men came tromping directly up to my seat and took me back with them to the stage. What followed was a very funny and embarrassing improv episode involving a lot of staring, twinkies, bananas and laughter. They shot this picture at the end and gave it to me as a present, along with a carryout box of mashed up twinkies and bananas. Guess you had to be there...

Cicada Invasion '07

2007-05-24T17:40:00.000-07:00

That's right, Cicada Invasion '07 is here. Not exactly the natural disaster it was hyped up to be, but still, they are disgusting and they are everywhere. These little buggers have apparently been growing underground for the past 17 years, and were predicted to come out in mass numbers on Tuesday, but it seems the Chicago Tribune was not completely accurate. You can read their new prediction and explanation here.

Don't they have horrible red eyes?

Horrifying, even in death.

Many people are trying to save their trees from cicada damage by wrapping them up. Unfortunately, the Chicago wind quickly undoes many people's efforts.

Amber

2007-05-21T13:35:00.001-07:00

This is my friend Amber. Doesn't she just look like a joyful person???

Yard Gnomes

2007-05-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

These are two of our yard gnomes. Maybe they will protect us from the cicadas.