cable conversion update

So now two of our closets have been empty for about 2 1/2 weeks and this is what we have to show for it...

Fancy, I know... I wonder when this is EVER going to end. I'd like our extra room/office back! I can't really get to our desk, my new Cricket, or a lot of other stuff. Hopefully they'll be done soon so we can get this all back to normal.

The only bright side is that every time we pull everything out of the closet we seem to find at least one or two things we can sell or throw away-- we'll call it early (or really late) spring cleaning!

Lisa school update

This semester is going to be a busy one! I am nearing the end of my classwork which means that pretty soon, I won't have to take any classes and I will start registering in dissertation credits. During this time I will still be teaching classes because that's how I get paid and what pays for my tuition credits.

With my program, I need coursework in 4 different areas: my area of concentration, my internal cognate, my external cognate, and research. There is a certain number of courses I need to take in each of those areas before I can consider my coursework complete. Once that is all done, I will work on my dissertation. My area of concentration is sport psychology, my internal cognate is growth and motor behavior and my external cognate is sociology/women's studies (everyone also has to take at least 3 classes in research methods). The internal and external cognates are meant to expand your expertise outside your narrow area of interest in things that can support your research. An internal cognate is something within your department (kinesiology) that is outside your area of interest (sport psychology). An external cognate is also supposed to support your research but is outside of your department (so it can be anything that is not in kinesiology).

After this semester, I am only going to have about 3 or 4 classes to take between the summer and next fall. Very exciting!!

This semester I am taking Pediatric Sport Psychology, Research Practicum, and Mentored Teaching in Undergraduate Kinesiology. So far I think I am going to enjoy all of my classes. I was originally enrolled in a sociology class called Gender and Power which sounded great but after two days I couldn't take it-- that's a story for another day!

I am also teaching Foundations of Kinesiology, Psychological Basis of Physical Activity (basically sport psychology and motor learning), and Sociocultural Analysis of Physical Activity (basically sociology of sport). I am really excited about all three classes so hopefully teaching will go really well this semester as well. The two things that concern me the most is 1. I haven't taught any of these classes before so it will be a lot of work and 2. I am team-teaching two of these classes. Everyone knows I work very well with others so that shouldn't be a problem at all... right?! I do like the two girls I am team teaching with so hopefully that's a good start!

The nice thing about my schedule is that I have really busy Mondays, kinda busy Wednesdays and light Tuesdays and Thursdays. I also can't complain that my responsibilities are over at 10:00 on Thursday. That definitely doesn't mean long weekends of nothing (because there's lots of work to be done) but it does mean I will have flexible weekends which I'm excited about!

birthday dinner

Oh my gosh, I'm 25! I used to think 25 year olds were adults who had their lives together and were mature and all that-- I don't feel like that yet. Should I be concerned?!

Here's a picture from dinner tonight (I won't share our first attempt- it wasn't our shining moment so we finally just asked the waitress)...

California winter

I had a great trip at home but am never very good at taking pictures. It was the same way when Mikel and I moved here and realized we didn't have any pictures of Pocatello really. You never think of taking pictures until you're gone. I'm trying to get better at that now that we are in Michigan and this blog is definitely good incentive and reminder to do so!

This is one picture we got of Matt, Natalie and me one night when we had dinner at their house. This was pre-haircut, hence the general disregard for my hair. I hadn't had a good haircut in awhile (or any for that matter) so I had an appointment when I got home!

My parents and I also got a chance to visit the condo in Palm Springs which was WONDERFUL. Now, it's always great to be in Palm Springs but I enjoy/appreciate it so much more coming from Michigan winter and seeing this:

We haven't seen blue skies in days and thinking about putting on my bathing suit (even inside) makes me shiver! It was great to be home but, as always, I missed Mikel and was glad to come back and see him (even if that did mean being in Michigan and skies that look like this for months on end...

I was on a mission to take more pictures when I was at home but obviously lost track of that-- oh well, I'll have to go back!

ice fishing

Mikel got the chance to go ice fishing with a guy from work on Monday and, of course, jumped at the opportunity! I have a personal philosophy that prevents me from doing things in the cold (because I do not enjoy being cold) so I stayed at home with the heater on. Now, of course, if I found something that I REALLY enjoyed doing that required being in weather below 40 degrees I might reconsider but that hasn't happened yet so I am happy with my decision. This philosophy also applies to getting up early on vacation days (if it's fun at 4 in the morning, wouldn't it still be fun at 10?? I realize this isn't always the case but has worked fairly well for me thus far).

There was about 5 guys and they caught around 50 fish. Mikel said it was a lot of fun and, according to the guys he was with it wasn't even a "good day". They caught perch, blue gills, bass, and a sun fish and no, I don't personally know what any of those things are but I asked Mikel! He didn't bring any home but some of the other guys did.

I, on the other hand, stayed at home in my sweats on my day off from school and did homework under a blanket while I watched ESPN and ate popcorn-- a good day for all!!

January cleaning...

The worst part of the Christmas season is when it ends. The lights are turned off, the decorations are packed away and school starts again. As soon as I got home from Riverside I was thinking about taking down the Christmas decorations. Unfortunately, I have two completely empty closets. Why is this unfortunate? Because all of the contents of those closets is stacked, piled, and tossed into our extra room. All of this was piled around the boxes that should contain our Christmas stuff. Why are the closets empty? Because our apartment complex people are rewiring for a new cable company. This of course is a month long process, or more (we're not out of the woods yet-- this is only step one) and they need access to different rooms and closets in our apartment. For that reason, our extra room looks like this:

It's quite the disaster area. It was nearing the 15th of January though and I could no longer in good conscious leave up our Christmas tree. Especially because Mikel had gathered the majority of the decorations and they were covering out table. It's like an army of Christmas cheer!

I tackled the project while Mikel was at work the other day. An empty Christmas tree is the worst part but I was really excited to use our new box for Christmas ornaments that we got in Frankenmuth at the Christmas extravaganza store.

Now we are all set to take on 2010! Hopefully we'll be able to use our closets again soon! We can't really complain about the closet situation at least compared to others who have split their apartment down the middle with a roommate. One person must have their whole life piled in the room. I would be so stressed!! The worst thing about this whole thing is that my vacuum is buried in a whole mess of stuff-- hopefully this is done soon!


I have survived my first week of school and am looking forward to my first day off of the semester tomorrow! It will be a busy semester with lots of new challenges but I'm looking forward to it!

things I've learned...

So many things....

1. Not everyone loads the dishwasher the same way I do
2. You can wash a shower curtain in the washing machine
3. Not everyone has the need to vacuum in straight lines
4. There is more than one correct path through a grocery store
5. The whole wide world of laundromats-- new to me
   
6. Some people just don't put things in the correct places in a refrigerator
7. Not everybody color codes their closet and organizes their shirts by length of sleeve (although to me it just makes sense)
8. Some people turn their phone off at night
9. Not everybody needs the sheets tucked in at the end of the bed
10. Some people can go to bed with the house being a mess (I'm not one of them)
11. Not everyone understands the need for decorative pillows on a bed
12. I've never seen some one go from 'hot' to 'cold' in their own house as fast as Mikel
    
13. I'm WAY more particular about things than I originally thought
14. I do a lot of things a certain way just because that's how it was done at my house
15. Not everyone procrastinates to the extent that I do
16. Some people are ok with the toilet paper going 'under' instead of 'over' the roll... the madness!!

That's all for now although I'm sure there is plenty more. I had a great visit at home and cannot believe it's time for the new semester to start! We did book Mikel's flight to Idaho for March and he's excited for that-- wish I could go to but I'm happy for him.

things I don't like about driving in Michigan...

I'm enjoying my time at home here in Riverside but have compiled a list of things I don't like about driving in Michigan...

1. Lights that are on timers. I end up sitting at lights for a LONG time looking silly because nobody is around but I'm waiting for the light to change colors (rule following is generally a good thing, I understand).
2. Similar to the above-- 'no turn on red'. If I could just make a right turn on a red light sometimes then I wouldn't be sitting at the light with nobody else around.
3. Michigan U's. You can't seem to make a u-turn at ANY intersection in the whole state!! You have to go through the intersection and go to these turn lanes in between intersections to make a u-turn. I have seen them other places but they are everywhere in Michigan so we call them Michigan U's as in "no you can't turn here but go past the intersection and make a Michigan U". 
4. Salt. They salt the roads like it is going out of style here! It melts the snow but rusts cars.... I'll take my chances with a 4-wheel drive car and a snow plow thank you very much. We definitely wash the car way more in the winter to clear off the salt than we do in the summer. 
5. Intersection lights that are timed so that if you drive the speed limit you are stopped at every red light. What the heck? Grand River is the street in between our apartment, school, and Mikel's work and the only way to hit all the green lights continuously is to drive about 8 miles an hour over the speed limit. This is a terrible idea though because people are always pulled over getting tickets. I stick with driving the speed limit and complaining about the red lights... it seems to work for me!
6. Potholes.... enough said.
7. When the gas prices go up here, the increase is at least 10 cents. Sometimes 15.... there's no 2 cents, or 5 cents...8 minimum-- so annoying!!
   

I'm sure I could think of more things but too many complaints makes a negative nancy!