So I have been coaching a club volleyball team this winter. Yes, this adds more to my plate but I agreed to do it well before Montana Western was even in the picture. The season ends in two weeks and although we're not very good (well, terrible actually) it's been fun. I have had to adjust to a whole different level of dedication (or the lack of dedication really) but I have a good group of girls in general.

Most of our tournaments have been in Grand Rapids at a really nice facility...

 We obviously don't use the weight room but there are five courts, each separated by a net (so balls can't roll between) and they have big electric score boards on the wall so parents don't have to yell "SCORE!! SCORE!!" at the girls during matches.

There's also all these picnic benches so teams can set up food and stuff inside (considering we had freezing rain for weather yesterday). It's a really nice facility and is actually the closest to Lansing, so I like when we get scheduled here!

My team only has four more practices and one tournament to go and I'll be glad when the season's over. It's been a busy start to the semester but it has been fun!

welcome to Bozeman...

I totally forgot about this picture that I took on my phone. This was what was awaiting me when I got off the plane in the Bozeman airport. I actually took a picture with the intention of sending it to Mikel but I got picked up right away and off we went into the whirlwind that was my time in Montana!

It is a small town airport and it totally made me laugh! Montana here we come!

Mikel's work

No, not that kind. Also, in case you were wondering NO he was NOT happy with me taking this picture but he knew it was better to just go with it because I was going to eventually...

But this kind of fun work....

Doesn't that look delicious?? If I was a fish I'm sure I would want to eat it...

Mikel has really enjoyed tying flies and it definitely has kept him busy. He just got this new super cool box to store them all in! It actually has little slits to slide the hook into instead of foam that you poke the hooks into. This is cool because you can only poke the foam so many times before it wears out and has too many holes.

Aren't you all impressed with my fly-tying knowledge?! Unfortunately, that's where it ends.

I'm loved

I got this pretty ring for a Valentines Day/birthday present. I love it!!

I'm spoiled but I don't complain... =)

it was almost tragic

So we've been so busy that I haven't had a time to share the story but it was SCARY!

This seems like a simple light socket sitting simply behind a side table....

But nooooo.....

This light socket almost caused us some serious problems. We were sitting in the living room one night a couple weeks ago and I went to plug in my computer and it started making crackling, sparking noises. Mikel told me to immediately unplug it (which I did- I'm good at following instructions) and then we called emergency maintenance (because it was after normal hours). While we were waiting for them to come it started up again and we ended up losing power in about half of our living room including to our TV, DVD player, and internet router.

Once the maintenance guy got here and took off the outlet cover (hold onto your pants, this is going to get technical), the plastic thingys that keep the different wires separate were apparently melted together and they were even the big kind with right kind of grease stuff inside. I don't know exactly what him and Mikel talked about but I do know that they both seemed really concerned and had never seen anything like this happen before.

The maintenance guy had to leave to get parts and I asked Mikel if this would be a bad time to tell him that I had heard that noise before. As you can imagine, that didn't go over too well but, in my defense, it just happened once and I wasn't even sure what it was and it stopped really quickly. Plus, I was home alone and the TV was on so it didn't seem so loud and dramatic. (Yes, in retrospect, I realize it was a terrible decision not to tell anyone or investigate further but I learned my lesson.)

The guy came back and the outlet is now working and our apartment didn't burn down! On Monday morning, the normal maintenance guy came and checked up on the work and actually changed a couple things (should I be concerned?!) but everything is ok now. The only causality of the process was the DVD player which no longer works but we'll take it.

On a side note, for a couple month before this every time I set my computer down I got a little shock (like static electricity, socks on the carpet). We had no idea why and it wasn't enough to really think twice about but now-- no shocks! Turns out, it was another sign that I ignored. Whoopsie!!

this doesn't happen everywhere

It looks like life is a little slow in Montana, seeing as I got a handwritten note from the governor congratulating me on my new position! Right after the press release came out I also got a call from the commissioner of the Frontier Conference (the conference UMW is in) congratulating me!

I'm pretty sure this doesn't happen everywhere!

snow day

The first snow day of my life was a success! It didn't even snow for 24 hours but we got probably about a foot. The wind was blowing pretty hard so the drifting makes it difficult to judge.

One thing I am going to miss about living here is that we don't clear ANY of the snow. It was chilly today and the people from our management company were out plowing the parking lot and using snowblowers all day long. I watched from the warmth of my couch but that's about it!

 The gym where my club team practices closed for the day as well, so Mikel and I spent a lazy day at home!

Lots of snow!

The forecast is clear for the next couple days but there is a chance of snow in the forecast for everyday Saturday through Wednesday. If that amounts to anything we could have some big piles!

This is the picture I got from the AD at Montana Western last night!! That's my new office!

bad karma

An announcement has already been made that MSU will be closed tomorrow for classes. Hip hip hooray for my first snow day EVER!!!

This is very exciting to me but the bad karma comes in with the fact that we are supposed to get 10-16 inches of snow on Groundhog Day. I feel like having a huge storm on the day that Punxsutawney Phil is supposed to decide whether the winter will continue for six more weeks is setting me up for failure. However, storm clouds=cloudy=no shadow=good vibes for little Phil.

I guess we'll see how this goes but either way, I will enjoy my snow day tomorrow.