Random thoughts of the night...

Sam is at jazz band and we haven't posted any updates for awhile, so here are some thoughts!

* Progress is coming, albeit slowly on the backyard. It truly is overwhelming to look at. The wall is officially dug out. Now we (meaning Sam and his Dad mostly) are moving a row of rocks down from the neighbors yard, building up the wall higher. Then we are placing cinder blocks to retain the grass in her yard. Inbetween the rock wall and the cinder blocks, we will place fence posts and then back fill with dirt. If that doesn't sound like enough work already, then comes the fence and then the yard...the yard which right now has piles of dirt interspersed with rock/gravel. We plan on sifting that out before we determine whether or not we will have to purchase top soil. Wish us luck!

* The front yard is our break from the back. For now, we are just trying to maintain what is already there. Weeding rock beds, pruning plants, thatching the grass (talk about back-breaking labor), mowing, and figuring out the sprinkler system have been our projects there. Yesterday's project was the sprinkler system...that took about 2 hours, but we think we have it figured out now. So far...no leaks or busted pipes...knock on wood. Just one blocked head, and that is a cheap fix! Now if only it will stop raining so we have the need to water!

* Inside we have been pretty unproductive...if not destructive! It feels so nice to get outside, and we have been so busy with end-of-the school year stuff, that the inside of the house has been sorely neglected...laundry, vacuuming, dishes...seem to be put more and more on the back burner. This weekend, while Sam was outside, I began the process of catching up, which continued today, and will probably continue into tomorrow, too.

*Outside of working on the house, we were able to get out this weekend and go fishing on opening day. Friday we spent the night with Josh and Dad in the trailer out at the lake and then got up bright and early to go fishing. I hold the honor this year of catching the first fish, but did not catch any "keepers" all day. Sam and Dad each caught several and then Mom came out and caught the Opening Day Tournament winner: a beautiful 3.7 lb brown trout! It was fun to watch! And she won an $800 all-expenses paid fishing trip for two!

*As for work, things are good. Sam is bogged down but almost done with a few weeks of state testing and teaching PE and history instead of music. He is looking forward to the end of that. I just wrapped up a first/second grade program. So cute! Hopefully I will get to stay at Lincoln Heights next year and will do a bigger, more theatrical music production.

*Lastly, this fall it looks like our lives will be getting even busier as Sam is looking into starting a Masters program at Adams State University in Alamosa, CO. It is a fully online, accredited program through the school Tracy, my CA flute teacher works at. Tuition is cheaper than EWU and it only takes two years. He is very excited about the prospects this program presents and is really looking forward to being back in school. I am VERY jealous, but will patiently wait my turn and focus on being a supportive wife!

I think that about catches us up on the Schlaich happenings. Maybe one day we will be more regular in our postings :)

~Heather

SUN!

I just wanted to announce that the sun is shining! Kind of. Well it was. Now it is kind of cloudy.

Regardless, in keeping with the tradition of the origin of this blog, I intend on going for a bike ride today. I recently went to the doc and we talked about what I need to do to be healthy so that we can have healthy children. The verdict: I need to lose about 40 pounds and then we will have a low risk pregnancy. Easy? No. Not at all. I love food. I think that is my biggest issue right now. That and not being active. Just when I think I have found a fun way to work out (the track meet game for the kinect is killer!), I reinjure my ankle and have to be in a walking cast for a week with it wrapped for any long walks, etc. for several after that. SO, a bike ride it will have to be for now, and less eating!

If the health of our future children are not motivation enough, then I am a lost cause.

New experiences for the Schlaichs!

This weekend was wonderful! Sam was on the tail-end of his Spring Break and I was at the beginning of mine! A couple of weeks ago I was reading the Spokane Public Schools staff newsletter and there was an all call for a very unique experience: hosting two Japanese students from the Mukigawa Ft. Wright Womens Institute for a weekend. We talked about it and thought it would be a great learning experience. And it truly was!

Friday night we picked up Rieko and Mizuki, 19 year old students from Japan who are studying English. They are in the United States for 4 months and the schools sponsors "Homestay Weekend" so that they can experience a normal American family's weekend life. Most families are THE American family: a mom, a dad, and a few kids. Obviously we aspire to be that one day, but for now, it is just the two of us, certainly not old enough to be a "Homestay Mom" or "Homestay Dad." Instead, we turned the experience into what a young American couple does on the weekend, and established more of a friend relationship with these two amazing young women. It worked out rather well!

Friday night was a little tense as we worked around language barriers and the girls got more comfortable with staying in our home. They looked around our house and were excited about how big and new it was compared to homes in Japan. To them, we seemed rich! HA! To kick off the weekend, we decided the most American food we could possibly have for dinner was BBQ, so we went to Texas Roadhouse. Peanut shells on the floor and animals on the wall was definitely new for them. When we got home, Rieko and Mizuki dressed me in traditional Japanese clothing. I must saw, even with Sam chuckling, I thoroughly enjoyed playing dress-up again! You are never too old! And the garments were so beautiful!!!
 We looked at pictures of Japan and their families and then looked at some of our pictures from summer vacations and our wedding before going to bed.

On Saturday morning, we had a big breakfast of eggs and pancakes before taking a drive (one of Sam and my favorite weekend activities) up to Mt. Spokane to see the snow. Unfortunately it was raining, but we enjoyed hot chocolate at the lodge while watching the skiers and snowboarders come out of the fog down the hill. Rieko and Mizuki expressed an interest in seeing wildlife, so to make sure that happened, we took them to Cabelas and showed them the "dead animal mountain" and aquarium. For lunch we went to Sam's parents' house and had a delicious lunch of chili and cornbread. Mizuki and Rieko seemed to really like the cornbread, especially because it was sweet! The afternoon was full of shopping at the mall, where we learned that Hollister is much cheaper in the US than it is in Japan. For dinner, Rieko and Mizuki made a traditional Japanese meal for us. I was nervous at first, especially because when I think of Japanese food I think of sushi and I do not eat seafood...and one of the pictures on one of the packages they brought with them had fish eggs in it...but, alas, the meal was delicious, with rice, beef and potatoes, and soup! I THINK I can make the beef and potato dish. After dinner we made origami and a "teruterubouz" - or snow boy - made out of kleenex to ward off the rain. We were all much more comfortable with each other by the end of Saturday evening an were learning so much from each either!

Sunday morning, the girls expressed an interest in going to church with us. At first this was a very exciting thought, but then we remembered that it was Palm Sunday and things would not be normal and it would be an extra long Mass because the entire Passion was going to be read. Rieko and Mizuki insisted that we did take them. So we did :). We explained as much as we could in as simple terms as we could think of. It was difficult! At the end of the Mass, they didn't think we were crazy so I guess that is a good thing! We went out to brunch and then drove up Legacy Ridge in Liberty Lake to look at the TRUE rich homes! The girls were in awe over the size of the houses and the size of the yards. Our impression is that houses in Japan are very small and are close together. Then we went to my parents' house for lunch. The awe and wonder in things we take for granted is amazing to me. My Dad's badge hangs on the wall and Mizuki was seemingly mystified by it. Sam and I were exhausted by this point so we went home and set up the X-Box Kinnect (which they had never seen) and chilled while they played for awhile. For dinner, we had steak and potatoes au gratin and then just hung out and talked about the differences in culture and language. The most striking conversation we had was about religion. They explained that religion is not common in Japan and that they had never heard of Jesus. While I am no religious nut, my faith is very important to me, as it is to Sam. This saddened us so much to hear! How do you explain how wonderful and amazing it is to believe in Jesus and the Gospel to someone who has never even heard of him?! We did our best to be as concrete with the message as possible without preaching and I think we succeeded. I do believe that everyone has a right to choose their religion and I did not want to force information on them, but it still makes me sad that they do not know faith.

When it was time to take Rieko and Mizuki back to their dorm, I think we were all stalling and wishing we had more time. For one last hurrah, we took them up the South Hill to the lookout point over the city. It was beautiful and a wonderful end to the weekend. When we dropped the girls off at their dorm, they hugged us, told us they loved us, and made us promise we would see them again before they go back to Japan in May. we couldn't be happier to see them again. We were surprised when they started to cry, almost to the point of sobbing! We will definitely be seeing them again before they go, hopefully more than once!

We enjoyed and learned so much from this experience and I hope we get the opportunity to participate in a Homestay Weekend with MFWI. We hope that maybe some of you will take the opportunity as well. These weekends happen three times a year and the students - and you - will never be the same!

Thanks for reading this extra long post - it is my spring break now, so I am sure there will be more, shorter, ones to come!

~Heather