First week of classes, first MSU home football game, etc.

So Lindsay keeps giving me a hard time about not having updated this thing recently.  I apologize.  I know you all wait with baited breath for my next post.  Paul and I have been incredibly busy with the first week of classes, our first MSU home football game and my impromptu trip to NC for about 30 hours.  Not to mention the multiple fantasy drafts we've had. 

I'll start with classes.  Classes are going well for both Paul and myself.  I am teaching 6 BIP classes, which are basically P.E. classes, as well as taking 3 classes myself.  I am busy, but loving it.  Nothing eventful has happened for classes as of yet, but I'm sure it's going to.

Now, briefly, I went to NC to visit family very quickly.  It went well and I'm really glad I got to see my parents, Lindsay, Micah, Riley and my grandparents.

On to our first MSU football game.  Here's a little bit of what I got to see:

Sparty and Me - BFF.

OK, so Gerard Butler wasn't at this particular game, but nonetheless, they still do this cheer...  SPARTANS ... WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION?!

I also got to experience a bit of this:

GO GREEN! ... GO WHITE!
(Although I will say, there is no closure to this cheer.  They need to take a cue from Penn State and say Thank you...)

Now, on to fantasy.  So this year I am in 3 leagues.  Paul, I think, is in 17.  That's a rough estimate.  We had our first draft together Sunday night, but as I was en route from Detroit to East Lansing on the Michigan Flyer, we did auto draft.  It turned out pretty well for me, as I ended up with Greg Jenningssssss, as well as Joooooshhh Freeeman (if you don't get this, you need to read more Bill Simmons).  Actually, I was lucky enough to pick up Greg Jennings in all 3 of my leagues.  Which is why I have one of the most best offenses in Fantasy history.  To get this, you need to YouTube: Best Madden Commentator (Paul didn't want me to post this video, as it has quite a bit of language in it and is less that appropriate for this medium).  We also got my family together to do a league, which has been not quite a debacle, but pretty close.  I feel like I'm regularly on the phone with Dad, who is saying, "I have to do this every week??  Why???"  Mom seems to be right on board with this, though.  Lindsay picked up the most random team in Fantasy history.  Dad drafted as many Eagles as he could and Ryan and Andrew continued to take every player I wanted right before my pick was up.  We'll see how this goes.

We're getting ready to go tailgate another MSU football game - they play FAU at noon!  So, hopefully you've enjoyed this post.  I'll try to get on this thing more regularly. 

Until next time ... GO GREEN!!!

As promised, pictures of the house ...

So here are some lovely pictures of the new house.  I should preface this by saying I am not a professional photographer.  I should have enlisted the help of my mother for this, because quite frankly, my photography skills are not that great, but nonetheless, enjoy!

A view of the kitchen from the living room.  That sliding glass door at the back leads to our deck and backyard/pond.

 Another kitchen shot featuring our new dining set where we actually do eat. 

 The kitchen hutch showcasing beach paraphernalia.  "Life is a Beach" sign from my Aunt Lori - matches my dishes perfectly!

 The other angle of the kitchen with a little view into the living room.

 Here is our back deck with new patio set and view of our gorgeous pond.  We do have a grill, but that's not pictured as it's still in the garage.   Genius idea putting it together in there as opposed to on the deck where it's going to be ... 

Partial view of the kitchen and the living room.  First look at some of our new living room furniture!  Quite comfy.  A gift from my amazing fairy Godmother, Carmen (Paul's real Godmother...).  LOVE it!

 Living room.

 New couch!  (And new curtain panels :) ).  Topsail Island sign by the door and a new driftwood mirror made my Mary. 

 Here's a better look.  That lamp was made by my Poppa :).

 I think I already posted a picture very similar to this, but oh well.

 Other side of the living room.  Layla portrait.  You can kind of see the Deitrick caricature on the back wall from Lindsay & Micah.  Oh, and Layla's toys.  They still don't have a real home, so they will go there for now.  Layla likes to keep an eye on them.  That beautiful dish has flamingos on it :), courtesy of Diane & Greg.  You can't tell from this picture, but that IS the VCU road to the final four book!

Front of the house.  We've already had some compliments on all the things from Virginia (UVA & VCU).  Well, one compliment from the guy who brings his beagles to our yard to use the restroom.  Thanks buddy.  Oh, and there's Layla.  And another flamingo in the yard.  Can you tell whose house this is?!

 Office.  Paul's hockey jersey and ginormous diploma.

New grownup desks!  My desk with my normal sized diploma.  That lighthouse lamp was made by Paul's grandfather.  No Nanny, you cannot have it.

A look at the guest bathroom because it looks like a spa.  I bet Mary is yelling at me right now for not ironing the shower curtain.  The wrinkles really show here.  This stuff was a gift from my Pettis cousins.  Looks nice!

So that's it for now.  Once we wash our comforter from smelly Layla being on it and get our bedroom looking nice, maybe I'll post that picture.  The guest room needs a bit of work as well.  We need to get a mattress instead of the air mattress in there now.  If you want more detail, you'll have to visit!! 

Great Lakes, Great Times...

We've decided to start a blog because we have so many important things to say and I know everyone out there wants to hear them.  Or possibly to keep friends and family updated as we strike out on new adventures in Michigan.  Either way, here it is.

Speaking of Michigan, we made it, safe and sound.  Actually it only took us about 10.5 hours.  Very uneventful. We've spent the majority of this week unpacking and cleaning.  Cleaning a lot.  Apparently our landlord thought it best not to vacuum before our arrival.  Or do any sort of cleaning for that matter.  Oh well.  Our new dining room set has arrived, as well as a patio set and new grown up desks.  No more target desk for me!  Paul's mom has been here all week and we put her to work.  Our living room and kitchen/dining room got a fresh coat of paint and the yard has been spruced up a bit.  Apparently our landlords are not what you would call "outdoorsy," so our yard was, well, lacking.

Layla loves having a yard.  She plays a lot with her flippy floppy and walks around like she runs this neighborhood.  Let's be honest, she does.  She also LOVES swimming in the pond in our backyard.  Which makes her smell wonderful.  We've put up a baby gate on the porch to keep her from going down in the pond when we don't want her to.  It is nice to be able to open the door and let her out, instead of worrying about walking her down a flight of stairs out of an apartment into a parking lot.  We still take her on evening walks around the neighborhood.  There are some weird kids here. 

We have also done some exploring of our quaint little town of Mason.  It's pretty much adorable and a little like stepping back in time.  Somewhat Mayberry-like.  We had dinner "downtown" the other night at a pretty good Mexican place. Then we walked a couple blocks away to an ice cream shop (they love their ice cream here) that serves ice cream from MSU's dairy store.  Really good!  There's a big music fest coming up the last weekend in August and I am very much looking forward to mingling with the local town-folk.  Everyone we've met so far has been really nice.

I'm hoping to have everything put away and cleaned up by next week, so I'll take some pictures of the new place then and post them here.  Keep an eye out; it will be life changing.