January 2009 update

I just realized that I haven't made a post in several weeks - there really hasn't been anything exciting or out of the ordinary to report. It is really cold here, and it snows practically everyday. We are becoming somewhat immune to the cold weather and really don't think it's freezing unless the temps are in the single digits! Even though we are used to the weather, we are still anxiously looking forward to warmer weather. As the saying goes, you can take us out of the south, but.... :-)

Jason is still working all of the time - it still amazes me at the amount of hours he is required to work each week! He is now in a new office in Richmond, MI, which is about 25 minutes south of where we live in Marysville. He is loving the new office and finally has his own desk and workspace (it's about time since we have already been here for a year and half!). Jason has been very successful at recruiting duty so far; I am very proud of how hard he works.

I am staying super busy as well - I'm still working full time at the community college and teaching math part time on Saturday mornings at Baker College. This quarter I am teaching Pre-Algebra. I'm also finishing up my MBA classes - my current class is "Human Behavior Management of Organizations" - whew, what a long name! After this class I only have two more classes to complete (Economics and Global Environment Strategies). My graduation is scheduled for June 5th - I can't wait!!!

One more interesting (at least to us) tidbit - we got a Wii! You would think there are teenagers living in our house considering we have a PS3 and a Wii now, guess we'll never grow up! We are enjoying some Wii bowling and we also got the Wii Fit. I really like the Yoga and the hula-hooping game. I also got "Dance Dance Revolution"... that game is WAY harder than I anticipated, so I need to practice A LOT! It's been nice to have something new to do, especially since it's so cold and yucky outside. It also forces us to get up off of the couch, so who knows, maybe we will drop some LBS? :-)

That's about all that's happening in MI - hope everyone is having a great 2009 so far, we miss you!

WICKED!

Jason and I saw Wicked at the Detroit Opera House on New Year's Eve .... it was a FABULOUS show! We were obviously not allowed to take pictures during the show, but Jason managed to get one of the opening stage. Here is a pic of the stage and a few of us all dressed up for the show:

Oh - and guess where we were when the clock struck 12am??? At the GAS STATION!!!! I hope the saying that whatever you are doing at midnight is what you will do all year is not true .... regardless, of course we had to take a picture; otherwise you may not believe us since we are typically enjoying some type of alcoholic beverage on New Year's Eve :-)



And finally, it would not be an event if I did not buy a t-shirt to remember it ..... so here's the t-shirt :-)


We had a great time - if you ever get the chance to see Wicked, definitely do so!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Holiday trip home, continued ....

Ok .... it took me a few days to get to the second part of our trip home, but better late than never, right? Seriously, there is a lot to report and I needed to set aside lots of time for this :-)

We left NC on Tuesday Dec 23rd and headed to Danville - we made a stop by Chick-fil-a first for a tasty chicken sandwich (WARNING: much of our trip was centered around eating at places that we do not have in Michigan) :-) We arrived at my parents' house and got settled in. We then headed over to Sarah's parents' place to visit with Sarah, Mike, Henry, Martha, Roger & Anne Rylee. After a quick visit Sarah, Mike, Jason and I went to Rockola (we LOVE their cheese fries - see, I told you it's all about the food) :-)

Wednesday was Christmas Eve - Jason and my Dad went out to Jason's place in Cascade to do some work and my mom and I hit the stores. That evening we visited my mom's friends Barbara and Melvin. It was probably the most relaxing day that I spent in D-ville!

Thursday was Christmas Day, which in typical fashion was extremely busy! We started with breakfast and gifts at my parents' house, then headed to Grandma Francis's place, then stopped by Jason's grandma's, next we hit up Martha's house and finally ended at Stacy's to hang out and relax with some friends. WHEW! Here are a few pictures from Christmas Day:

Little Bit is not very happy with the gift I got her :-)

My brother Jacob, checking out Bits' hat

Aunt Bettie & cousin Val, playing a Christmas BINGO game

Aunt Lois trying to keep the gift-giving organized this year!

Check out Grandma opening some of her Christmas gifts:

And here is Anne Rylee opening her present from Jason & me:

On Friday my Mom, Martha and I hit some of the after-Christmas sales at Gingerbread House and Target. Mama and I also stopped by Bojangles for some of their delicious fries and sweet tea. I babysat Anne Rylee for a few hours Friday evening and then Martha and I began cooking for Amy Daniels' baby shower that we were hosting with Amy Hill the following day.

Saturday was another busy day - the shower was at 2pm at Martha's house .... check out the pics from the shower:

the yummy cupcakes

Luke Evan Daniels will be here soon!

Me with the mom-to-be

On Saturday evening, a big group of our friends got together for dinner at San Marcos Mexican restaurant. We then went out for drinks at Buffalo Wild Wings .... after B-Dubs a few of us headed to Sals for some dancing - it was a great time!

Sunday my mom, dad, Jason and I had lunch at the Yancey House - we all had steaks and they were delicious! Saturday afternoon my aunt Cindy, cousin Kristin and Popey Daniel came by for a visit. Sunday evening we watched Polar Express, which was one of the new Blueray DVDs that we gave my parents for Christmas.

Monday we had a great lunch with Stacy at the Tokyo Grill and had dinner with Jason's family at Lonestar. In between the two meals my Dad, Jason and I headed out to Jason's place where we ran into some issues with the waterline ... here are a few pics of Jason and Daddy in their work gear; I figured since they spent most of the week working I should put it on the blog, right?

The damages to the waterline caused us to get a late start on Tuesday - we had a last minute lunch with my parents at Ham's before heading back to NC to the airport. We had a great time, but as usual time passed too quickly. We are looking forward to our next trip home, which will most likely be sometime this summer. And of course, each of you are always welcome to visit us anytime!!!

Our holiday trip home - part 1 in NC

The past week has been a whirlwind of traveling, visiting with friends and spending time with family. We flew into RDU on Monday December 22nd - we planned to spend the first day in NC catching up with our North Carolina friends. Our first stop was Firehouse Subs - gotta love their Hook&Ladder and Italian subs! After lunch, we headed to North Raleigh to visit Kim, Chris & Maddy. It was great catching up with them and seeing how big Maddy has gotten! Here is a picture of us:

Next we headed to Prul's house to freshen up for dinner. We met several friends at MacGregor Draft House in Cary, including Lesley & Edward Emerson, my Cisco friends Susan Denny & Nisha Westphal, Prul & my former neighbor, Carrie Jordan. With the exception of an issue with Nisha's tire we had a great time. Gotta love those pickle chips! :-) Here is a pic of the ladies that were at dinner:

After dinner, Prul, Jason & I met my brother Bryce at Carolina Ale House.....sounds like we were on the Ale/Draft house circuit, huh? :-) Here are some pics from the Ale House - the first is of Bryce & me, the second is Prul & Bryce cracking up and the last pic is Jason and me.

The next day we headed to D-ville ..... I will post a separate blog about that :-)