And That's A Wrap...

Yesterday marked a very important day.  I submitted my final paper for grad school!  Hip, hip, hooray!

This 7 week course was my final course to complete for my degree...
Let's just say that it consisted of ALOT of reading and writing...
Sooooo happy it's over! :)

 It's official... I am done with school and my Master's degree is completed!!  I honestly can't begin to describe how happy this makes me. :)  It feels as if a huge weight has been lifted.  This degree has taken alot of time and effort and hard work (the list could go on...) to complete, and there were times where I wondered if it was actually worth it.  While working on this degree, I was frequently frustrated that I had to give up so many things that I enjoy doing just so that I could use that time to study, write papers, read textbooks, analyze data, take exams, etc.  Needless to say, there was alot of frustration and tears over the past few years...

Especially when the majority of my weekends were spent at the coffee shop working on this...

... and staring at piles of work like this.  Bleh!

But, I do recall my mom telling me a couple of years ago, that even though the workload appeared to be never ending, the time would fly by and when I finished, I would feel good about my accomplishment.  And, I do have to admit, now that it's over, I realize that it was definitely worth it.  As my dad has always told me, "An education is something that no one will ever be able to take away from you", and I couldn't agree more.  :)  So, with that being said, I can now officially close the chapter on grad school.  And in doing so, I can say with much excitement (and relief)... I now have my life back! :)

Let's Go, Tigers!

A couple of weeks ago, Stacy and Kaden came down to visit.  We wanted to kick off Kaden's summer vacation the right way, so we decided to partake in a quintessential summer activity... An evening at the ballpark!  We headed down to Comerica Park and spent the evening watching the Detroit Tigers play the Cleveland Indians.  I mean, what better way to spend a summer night than watching a good, old-fashioned baseball game?! :)

Let's play ball! :)

Stacy and Kaden watching the game...
Can you tell he was pretty excited?! :)

Me and the hubby supporting our team! :)

Me and my favorite little man! :)

A perfect evening for a ball game...

Afterwards, they put on a huge fireworks display.
It was outstanding!!
Quite possibly, the best fireworks display I've ever seen! :)

Stacy and I cheesin' it up after the game. :)

Let's give it up for the Tigers!
Apparently I was practicing my Vanna White moves and trying to show the final score...
I don't actually remember what it was, but the important thing was that the Tigers won! :)

Showing some sisterly love. :)

It's only been 10 months...

And, 10 months later, here I am again! :) Let's just say it's been a whirlwind of year and my poor blog was quite neglected.  So, many apologies to my dear readers (or, after the 10 month hiatus I just took, should I restate that and apologize to my mom and sister, as they're probably the only readers I have left?! :))  I do have to say that I have missed blogging tremendously! Unfortunately, when life becomes that busy, some things just have to be cut out... And, considering it was either the blog or the gym, I had to go with the blog... Because lord knows how cranky (ahem, I mean, crazy! :)) I would have become without having the gym for an outlet this past year. But, things seem to have calmed down a bit considering I'm out of school for the summer and I only have two weeks left of my last Master's class... Woohoo! :) So, we all know what that means... I finally have more time to blog... Yippee!! :) And, there's quite a bit to get caught up on by the looks of things...  So, let's start with a quick recap of the past 10 months...

I continued to play on my kickball team into the fall... Fun times! :)

Our kitchen went from looking like this (mind you, this picture was taken after we started the renovation, hence the reason for the lack of cupboard doors. :))...

... to this! :)
We still have some work to do on it (i.e. new countertops to replace that god awful yellow formica that's currently in there, but at least it looks better than it did!)

Kaden came to visit us for a few days and we went to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village for a day.

I also took him to one of my favorite places... The campus of Michigan State! :)  He's a little Spartan fan and was super excited to explore the campus with me... We took a little trip to the MSU Children's Gardens and did a little exploring through there... Such fun!

We took my brother to a Tigers/Yankees game for his birthday. :)  
And his birthday wish came true when the Yankees pulled off a win against the Tigers.

I was in my friend, Rachel's, wedding in Holland...  Along with my BFF, Kory, and my sis...
Good times! :)

Our friends from Germany, Denise and Joerg and their two girls, came to visit us in August.
A trip to the U.S. wouldn't be complete without a trip to my favorite U.S. city... Chicago, of course! :)

We also had more German friends come in to visit for our mutual friends' wedding, so we had them all over for a BBQ one night.  It was so great to be able to spend time together again! :)

Brian and I at our friends' wedding in Canada. :)

We took Denise, Joerg, and the girls to their very first Tigers game! :)
They loved it and they're now some hard core Tigers fans!!

After showing them around Chicago and Detroit, we headed up to northern Michigan...
I showed them around the area that I grew up and then we headed to the U.P. where we spent a couple of days camping near Tahquamenon Falls...

Our campsite overlooked the river... Gorgeous!  We spent many afternoons relaxing in the sun while watching Vander, Savanna, and Finja play in the water... Perfection!

After a few days in the U.P., we showed them around Mackinaw City and then headed back down to Traverse City.
No trip to Traverse City is complete without a trip to North Peak Brewery. :)

We then headed off to Silver Lake Sand Dunes and had them climb the dunes with us...
Overall, northern Michigan didn't disappoint and they had a great trip! :)

The same day that they left to head back to Germany, I got a call from a local school telling me that I was hired for a third grade position!!  Woohoo!! :)  I was then informed that I had one and a half days to get a room ready before the Parent Open House...  Yikes!!  Nothing like getting a classroom set up in a day! :)
I do have to say, starting the year off in such a crazed state, combined with my ridiculously large workload for my Master's class this year, I felt as if I never really caught up and got my bearings.  I honestly felt as though I was constantly paddling, but just barely kept my head above water this entire year.   Most of the time I felt as if my brain was detached from my head and I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. :)  But, you know the old saying "Everything happens for a reason?"  I truly believe it.  I was blessed this year with the most amazing class I have ever had in all of my years teaching! :)  They were the sweetest, most unique, eager to learn, hard working group of students I have ever taught! :)  I can honestly say that it was because of them that I made it through this past year!  No matter what kind of day I had, they would never fail to make me smile.  I am truly grateful for this class and they will always hold a special place in my heart.  And, yes, I did in fact, shed a tear (or two) when I had to say goodbye to them on Thursday. :(  

The candy bar I received when I officially signed my contract. :)

In September, we took a ride down the Detroit River on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in our friends' boat. :)

Our Tom's Tavern kickball team after our last game in October. :)

I celebrated my birthday in Lansing with my girls (and Brian, too!) while cheering on MSU for the Michigan State/Michigan football game! Such a fun way to celebrate my birthday! :)

We celebrated my Dad's birthday at Beltline Bar in Grand Rapids... Love that place!! :)

Brian and I (along with Vander) watched the Election Night coverage and were so very happy when President Obama was re-elected for his second term! :)

I celebrated Silver Bells in the City in Lansing with Stacy and Kaden... 

... and my girls as well! :)  

Mom, Stacy, Kaden, and I headed to Chicago in December to check out the Christkindlemarkt...
I loved it!  It reminded me of all the German Christmas Markets I wandered through while living in Germany!  Needless to say, it brought back many wonderful memories, and I was so happy to share them with my mom, sister, and nephew. :)

We also celebrated Stacy's birthday while we were there! :)

Vander loved to guard our Christmas tree. :)

We spent Christmas Day up north with the fam. :)

I decked Vander out for the holidays... Much to his and Brian's dismay! :)

While we were up north, we spent a day skiing at Caberfae!  It felt so great to be back on skis again!

We rang in the new year with a small group of friends at Tom's Tavern.  :)

In January, we headed to a Plymouth Whalers game with our friend, John! :)

Stacy and Kaden came down to visit and we headed to the Detroit Auto Show where Kaden designed this picture of us on a Subaru Adventure! Hilarious! :)

During February, Brian, Kory, and I headed up north to the Traverse City Winter Wine and Beer Festival... So. much. fun! :)

This was how I spent the majority of my weekends between September and May...
 Hanging out at the local coffee shop doing homework and school work... Fun.

We took our annual trip to Chicago to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!  Always a very fun and memorable time! :)

Kaden came down to visit in March and we headed to Sky Zone to do a little jumping around! :)

We also made a tasty batch of Bunny Bait as well! :)

Again, I had to get Vander into the Easter spirit!  He was "thrilled"! :)

Celebrating Easter with the fam... :)

I headed to Opening Day for the Tigers with my friend, Linda!  Fun times! :)

We celebrated our friends, Katrina and Benjamin, getting married!  They came over from Germany to celebrate with their American counterparts! :)

We completed an Adventure Race in May!  We definitely didn't come in first, but we didn't come in last either!  Woohoo! :)

Oh, yea... And this happened! :)

We headed to the Pinery over Memorial Day for a long weekend of camping and relaxing!!  Loved it! :)

Summer Vacation has officially begun!!
My school year came to a close this past week and I had to say goodbye to my kiddos...  Being that our theme was owls this year, I made them this little goodie bag as a goodbye treat! :)

And now that I have more time, I'm looking foward to blogging a bit more!!  Be back soon with some more updates! :)