winter is near...

I wore my first winter coat today; always a sad day. I was especially upset when I saw on my computer that it was 80 in Riverside and 38 here. It is supposed to be in the mid-60s again by the end of the week but today was not so pleasant!

We cannot complain too much though... we haven't really had snow yet. We saw a little hail at the end of last week but not much at all. A couple days ago, we woke up and the roof next door was covered in white but by the time we left it was gone so that's not so bad! It's almost November and my windshields has only been frozen once-- I'll take it!

Other than that, things are going well. School is well... school's school but I'm enjoying it. I'm liking the classes I'm teaching and loving the classes I'm taking!

trip to Detroit

Just some pictures from the weekend... we went to Detroit to visit Angela, an friend who I played club volleyball with in high school and did a little exploring along the way.

Tiger's stadium...



Joe Louis Arena where the Red Wings play...

Canada...
Just a cool corner building on an intersection in Detroit. It reminded me of new York...
Angela!!

more birthday....

We have already posted some pictures of our little trip for Mikel's birthday but here are some more. We didn't have much of an agenda when we left but found a beautiful "beach" on the coast of Lake Michigan, a wooden shoe factory, a lighthouse, Chuck-E-Cheese (we had to get in a couple games of skeeball for his birthday), a farmers market, beautiful colors with the leaves changing colors, and downtown Holland with cute shops and restaurants. All in all, it was a great little trip!


These were pumpkin peppers at a farmer's market in downtown Holland, MI. We're not sure what they're used for besides Halloween decorations but they were so cute!

A windmill at Windmill Island.... we want to go back when it's open during the summer. They have a mini little Dutch town and tons of tulip fields that look beautiful!

Yes, we were the only people in Chuck-E-Cheese in their 20s but it was still fun. Mikel won more tickets than I did thought, I don't like losing!

These giant shoes were at a wooden shoe making factory. They also had Delftware, bison and tulip fields (which weren't blooming) and a shop where you could by tulip bulbs for every imaginable type of tulip. Pretty amazing!

happy birthday Mikel!!

For Mikel's birthday we decided to take a short trip. We went to Saugatuck and Holland for an overnight. The leaves are turning colors and everything is so pretty. Here are a couple of
pictures... we'll upload some more when we get home!Big Red the lighthouse


After walking up 282 stairs, the view from the top was soooo beautiful!


We didn't understand this sign. It was resting against a lamp in a dreary old antique shop but we were scared to ask the lady working there.... any guesses?

would you vote for us??

school

I thought I'd give a little update on school considering that's why we moved across the country!!

School is going really well here and I'm loving it! I teach five classes and am taking three. Of the five classes I teach, four are activity classes: beginning swimming, beginning volleyball, indoor soccer, and swim conditioning. They are really fun one credit classes; most my students jump right in and participate, are pretty easy going and are really nice. I have been invited to a couple frat parties and been asked if I'm old enough to be their teacher but all in all, I can't complain! The other class I teach is called Healthy Lifestyles and it's two hours, twice a week. The first hour is physical activity and the second is lecture. It's a fun class but we'll see how much they like me after they get their first test back tomorrow. My first teaching evaluation was really positive as well, so I've been having a lot of fun with that!

The rest of my time is spent going to and studying for the classes I'm taking. I have one class on research methods which is basically a stats class so that one is not too bad for me (much easier than the math classes I was taking at ISU). I'm also in a sport psychology class and a class on positive youth development. The classes take a lot of preparation but are really interesting so I've been having fun and learning a lot! A big difference between MSU and ISU is that the departments here are much bigger so I do not have all my classes with the same people. It's nice to branch out and have more variety in teachers and classmates but it's harder to get to know the people in your classes.

I should get back to studying... midterms are coming up!