Our first Christmas together was quiet but great! We woke up and opened presents... actually, I had to wake up Mikel because he doesn't quite understand the urgency of opening presents on Christmas morning. We both got great presents from each other and our parents-- we got clothes, a great new camera, a fun game, and lots of DVDs to watch!
After that, we went over to Brett and Megan's house for a great dinner. We are lucky to have friends in the area that don't mind letting us crash on their holidays!
We got to see the cool presents their kids got from Santa, have a great dinner and spend good time with friends. After that, Brett and Megan took their kids to a movie and we went home to play with our presents and take pictures with our new camera. We didn't have much to take pictures of (it was too cold to go outside) so we just took pictures of ourselves.
We missed our family and friends but finally got to spend a Christmas together! It was my first white Christmas and it was wonderful.
Since then we've had lots of time to relax and hang out together which has been great. Mikel has been working and I've been... relaxing!
It's a bad sign when you cannot tell if it's currently snowing because the wind is blowing so hard that there is a ton of snow in the air already?? My answer- yes, it's terrible.
Not much exciting is going on around here. We're bummed we missed the Griffiths family Christmas party but we're relaxing and enjoying some lazy time together and preparing for our own Christmas-- our first together!
Hopefully the wind will stop blowing. It would be a lost cause to hope for the snow to stop so I'll focus on the wind!
For better or worse, I'm done for the semester! I took my last test this morning... who starts tests at 7:30 when it's only 20 degrees outside?! I think it went well so now I'm just waiting for grades to be posted.
Now, all I have to do is wait and collect finals from my students and then grade those and I'll be all done! It's time for sleeping, relaxing, scrapbooking, and even reading for fun! Of course there will be some planning for next semester but that's not too bad. I'm going to be enjoying some down time for awhile which will be nice for the both Mikel and me!!
We had our first "it's not fun to be grown up" day. I'm sure there's plenty more to come!!
I had a final to take at 1:00 today so I was going to get up and go study at my office early. Plus, I had to collect finals from some of my students at 11. After I showered and got dressed, I went outside to start the car and warm it up (not one of the fun things about living in cold weather) like I do every morning and it didn't start. It was not even close to turning over. Sad day. So of course, I woke Mikel up and made him go try and turn on the car and shockingly, same result.
I called AAA but I was going to have to stay with my car for 45 minute to an hour. I didn't have that kind of time- I had to get to my office, so I called our friend Brett (thank goodness for Brett and Megan) and he dropped me off. At this point, I had lost most of my studying time but was glad I wasn't stuck at home. Luckily, it's finals week and Brett didn't have anything to do today so he went back and helped Mikel get the car jump started. I heard this was quite a sight in our apartment parking lot.
Mikel was able to drive the car to Sears, get the battery checked and, of course, it was dead so we had to buy another one. By the time I was done with my final, Mikel had the car all fixed up and was able to pick me up.
Although it definitely wasn't the day we had planned, if our car was going to die, it couldn't have been a better situation. First, almost every other day Mikel and I are headed straight to work or school. Since I had some time before my students expected me, I wasn't late for anything. Second, it was finals week so Brett was able to help with very little disruption. Third, Mikel works at Sears and was able to get at least a little discount on the battery check and replacement. And last, this may not sound like a good thing but it didn't really matter that I didn't study for my final. Let me explain, after taking the final, the things I would have studied weren't on the test so I didn't really lose anything. Don't worry, the final was in a math class so it went fine.
That was our day!! Fun stuff. The good news is, I only have one more final to take on Wednesday morning and now I'm confident the car will be able to get me there! I can't wait for Christmas break!!
My computer shows the weather here in Michigan and in Riverside and since it's in the teens here and seventies and eighties in California, I thought I'd share a little bit of our snow! The good thing is that when it has snowed, it's not big snowflakes so it hasn't built up too much.
Other than that, school is almost over!! I turned in two papers this week and only have 2 finals left between me and 4 weeks of vacation! The finals will not be as stressful as the papers so I'm in the home stretch!
I got my teaching schedule for next semester and I'm really excited! Although it's not set in stone quite yet I'm teaching a Healthy Lifestyles lecture class, 2 volleyball classes and 1 swim conditioning class... I couldn't ask for much better! Now that I've been through one semester, I have ideas on how to tweak things a little bit to make them even better!
Things are going well here. I think Mikel is looking forward to me being out of school and a little less stressed as well!
There was no snow on the ground this morning and then all of a sudden... a blanket of white! There were people outside throwing snowball earlier.
Although it's almost December so I can't really complain, I still don't have to be happy about it!
This doesn't happen very often so don't get used to it but Michigan State is rooting for Michigan football to win this weekend! Even Magic Johnson said so on ESPN so it must be true!
Here's the deal, if Michigan beats Ohio State in football and Michigan State can beat Penn State this weekend then Michigan State would win the Big Ten and would get a bid to the Rose Bowl. MSU will have their hands full trying to beat Penn State but .... hey, it could happen!!
Therefore (I'll have to apologize to Jim Clover for this) I'm rooting against Ohio State and for University of Michigan this weekend! Go Spartans!
That's right, that's a gas station selling gas for $1.84; of course that's with a car wash but $1.99 without is not too bad either! It was exciting to fill up our car from almost empty (don't worry dad, I figured out we do have a gas light-- just like mom's car!) for less than $40. The Xterra hasn't seen that cheap of a fill in awhile... maybe not ever considering when we bought it!
Also, we bought a bed today at Sears. The beds were on clearance and it was a special employee discount day and with Mikel's normal employee discount, it was a deal we couldn't pass up. The double bed has been ok, but a queen is now coming and we are definitely excited!
I think it is a sign that Mikel allowed me to take a picture of him at Sears while bed shopping; he's resigned himself to the fact that I love taking pictures even at the most awkward times! He didn't even fight it! He was happy about the new slippers he was getting as well! Ahhh, the little things!
Now that we've had such a busy afternoon, we better relax, do homework and watch football!! =)
So I haven't written a blog for awhile and the main reason is that my camera is nearing retirement and I haven't had many pictures to share. I dropped it on our visit to Holland and although it's not completely shot, it's seen better days. The batteries don't quite stay put anymore and it turns of randomly. Mikel does have a camera too but I'm kind of a creature of habit and I haven't embraced it yet.
Since I last posted it finally snowed...very sad. It wasn't much snow and it has only happened the one time so we still can't complain! We have been told that the worst part of winter is in January so we have awhile to wait.
Also, Mikel got a job working in the tools department at Sears at least for the holidays. Although it is definitely not his dream job it's not too bad and he's getting a paycheck! We still looking for something else in sports or something but a job's a job right now!!
As for school, things are still going well. There are only three weeks left before finals which means that I have three weeks to write 2 LONG papers-- but I'll get the done! My teaching is still going well; I'm enjoying my classes and my students (for the most part)! I have a lot of grading to do this weekend but I'm enjoying it!
That's an update on our life in a nutshell! We miss our family and friends but are still having a lot of fun here!
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!
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!
After that, we went over to Brett and Megan's house for a great dinner. We are lucky to have friends in the area that don't mind letting us crash on their holidays!
We missed our family and friends but finally got to spend a Christmas together! It was my first white Christmas and it was wonderful.
