That's our status w.r.t. our future home: just hanging out until the financing goes through. We signed a whole bunch of papers - which I'm sure included the rights to our first-born - and are just letting the bank do their thing. On Tuesday, we did one final walk-through before waiving our rights to another inspection. The relocation company that owns the house had an independent one done already, and my dad agrees that it's very comprehensive, with acceptable results. So we're in this thing for good now!
Here are some things about having this house that are most exciting for me:
*Having parties again, and having lots of indoor and outdoor space for those parties. We'll have an open upstairs, a rockin' downstairs and a nice big yard with a bonfire pit!
*Having at least temporary space for a personal library. Until that second kid comes around, I get a small bedroom to fill with books, comfy seating and floor lamps.
*A real place for the bikes to live. The four-stall garage is a great place for Mitch to store and wrench on our bikes, but the basement will be a winter home for the road bikes and the ever-important trainer. We'll probably even have an extra TV that can be devoted to watching Train Right DVDs!
*Colors on the walls. After five years of blank apartments, I'm ready to toss some color up. Sage green in the living room, berry-tinged brown in the library, a hint of grey to match our bedding...oh, the possibilities!
*Unpacking our china and crystal...eventually. A contemporary china cabinet is on my wish list, but I'm finding I have expensive tastes.
There are tons more, but it's time for bed. I can't wait 'til we have a closing date!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Stony Creek Time Trial
Time for the race report! The Stony Creek Time Trial isn't one of my favorite races, but I needed to do it in order to get my five required CPS races completed. (It replaced Addison Oaks on my schedule, because Miriam's bachelorette party is the night before Addison, so I won't be able to make it.) Overall, I felt the race went well for me, even though I placed fourth (or last) in my class.
The course incorporates a lot of gravelly two-track, and I HATE riding two-track. I have a tendency to relax a bit and not push myself as hard as I should when I'm riding it, so I made a huge effort to go out hard at the beginning of the race. I kept my cadence and heart rate up, and pushed as hard as I could on the climbs. That exertion, however, meant that my body was getting pretty tired by the last mile or so of the single track: the part of the race that was the most fun! I believe they added a significant amount of single track to the course this year, which made it more technical and therefore, more suited to my preferred racing style.
I did have a pretty decent crash; toward the end of the single track, I was coming down a hill and hit a small rocky section. I thought I was going over my handlebars but I pulled it out. A few seconds later, I was sliding sideways down the trail! I didn't feel anything at the time and just jumped right back up, but this morning I have a sore left shoulder and a huge bruise on my right shin. Nice.
Like I said, I came in fourth out of four women in my class. I am pleased with my performance, however. The course was longer this year (not sure by how much), but my time this year was almost identical to my time last year. The woman who placed third came in two minutes ahead of me; she also raced last year in the sport category and her time last year was two minutes faster than mine then, too.
Mitch didn't have a spectacular race. He thought he was all recovered from being sick last week, but he had a lot of trouble breathing. After the race, his awful, hacking cough came back and he sounded terrible. I know it was disappointing for him, but these things happen sometimes. He'll be back on the ball for our next race, which is at Maybury in a month.
The course incorporates a lot of gravelly two-track, and I HATE riding two-track. I have a tendency to relax a bit and not push myself as hard as I should when I'm riding it, so I made a huge effort to go out hard at the beginning of the race. I kept my cadence and heart rate up, and pushed as hard as I could on the climbs. That exertion, however, meant that my body was getting pretty tired by the last mile or so of the single track: the part of the race that was the most fun! I believe they added a significant amount of single track to the course this year, which made it more technical and therefore, more suited to my preferred racing style.
I did have a pretty decent crash; toward the end of the single track, I was coming down a hill and hit a small rocky section. I thought I was going over my handlebars but I pulled it out. A few seconds later, I was sliding sideways down the trail! I didn't feel anything at the time and just jumped right back up, but this morning I have a sore left shoulder and a huge bruise on my right shin. Nice.
Like I said, I came in fourth out of four women in my class. I am pleased with my performance, however. The course was longer this year (not sure by how much), but my time this year was almost identical to my time last year. The woman who placed third came in two minutes ahead of me; she also raced last year in the sport category and her time last year was two minutes faster than mine then, too.
Mitch didn't have a spectacular race. He thought he was all recovered from being sick last week, but he had a lot of trouble breathing. After the race, his awful, hacking cough came back and he sounded terrible. I know it was disappointing for him, but these things happen sometimes. He'll be back on the ball for our next race, which is at Maybury in a month.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Quick House Update
Monday: Drove by house
Tuesday: Showing with our realtor, Jason Pavolko
Wednesday: Showing with Jason and my parents
Thursday: Made offer
Friday: Saw counter-offer; decided to accept
Saturday: Actually signed counter-offer; talked to Dad about doing a home inspection next week
Wow, this is happening fast! We're so excited...
Tuesday: Showing with our realtor, Jason Pavolko
Wednesday: Showing with Jason and my parents
Thursday: Made offer
Friday: Saw counter-offer; decided to accept
Saturday: Actually signed counter-offer; talked to Dad about doing a home inspection next week
Wow, this is happening fast! We're so excited...
Thursday, July 23, 2009
A Whirlwind Week!
Where to start? Well, first and most importantly, Mitch started his new job this week! He's a financial analyst for ETX, Inc., the holding company for Alma Products. This means we both work in Alma now! It's fun to ride into work together, but we have to get into town earlier so the days feel a bit long. I'm sure I'll get used to it soon, because I'm using that extra time in the office to study and do homework, without the distractions of the apartment.
Second, my work has been crazy. I came back to discover that both my computer and my phone committed technological suicide while I was on vacation. I had no files, no printers and no access to our main shared drive. Gah! It took IT almost three days to get me up and running, and I'm still having a few minor issues. I hope we get new computers soon! Then, at the end of the day on Tuesday, my phone quit working completely. It was back up by mid-morning yesterday, but it was awkward to call the bank from another office, because...
...we may have found a house! While I was unable to access anything but the Internet on Monday, I was browsing around online and found a house that met our really picky criteria. It's further north than we would have considered when Mitch was in Mason, but now that we're both up here, the location is fine. So drove by it on Monday, went with the realtor Tuesday, took my parents up there Wednesday, and are now in the process of getting a pre-approval so we can make an offer on it! Yikes!
About the house: it's a ranch built in 2003, located on a one-acre lot in a rural subdivision near Maple Rapids. It has an open floor plan, cathedral ceilings, a fireplace and a full, partially-finished basement with egress windows. I wasn't initially convinced about the "subdivision" part, but the friendly neighbors and the large lot size make it nice. Plus, when we have a family, it will be nice for the kids to be able to ride bikes on something other than the driveway or the back yard. Yes, biking is always a consideration!
All right, I have a pretty busy day, so I ought to get going. I'll write more as things develop with the house!
Second, my work has been crazy. I came back to discover that both my computer and my phone committed technological suicide while I was on vacation. I had no files, no printers and no access to our main shared drive. Gah! It took IT almost three days to get me up and running, and I'm still having a few minor issues. I hope we get new computers soon! Then, at the end of the day on Tuesday, my phone quit working completely. It was back up by mid-morning yesterday, but it was awkward to call the bank from another office, because...
...we may have found a house! While I was unable to access anything but the Internet on Monday, I was browsing around online and found a house that met our really picky criteria. It's further north than we would have considered when Mitch was in Mason, but now that we're both up here, the location is fine. So drove by it on Monday, went with the realtor Tuesday, took my parents up there Wednesday, and are now in the process of getting a pre-approval so we can make an offer on it! Yikes!
About the house: it's a ranch built in 2003, located on a one-acre lot in a rural subdivision near Maple Rapids. It has an open floor plan, cathedral ceilings, a fireplace and a full, partially-finished basement with egress windows. I wasn't initially convinced about the "subdivision" part, but the friendly neighbors and the large lot size make it nice. Plus, when we have a family, it will be nice for the kids to be able to ride bikes on something other than the driveway or the back yard. Yes, biking is always a consideration!
All right, I have a pretty busy day, so I ought to get going. I'll write more as things develop with the house!
Friday, July 17, 2009
A Biking Vacation
About once a year, we go on a big vacation. We weren't sure we'd be able to this year, but our teammates Aaron and Nichole convinced us to take a week and go mountain biking in Northern Michigan. While initial plans to ride in the Keewanau didn't work out, we had an excellent time in the Petoskey and Traverse City areas.
Boyne XC Marathon Race: This was the impetus for the whole trip...why not take advantage of being all the way up there for the race? Mitch, Nichole and Aaron were the only O2W racers competing (though I think I did my part making sure they had enough water!) and they all did great.
Here's the crew before the race - I'll be sporting that pink jersey at Stony Creek in a week!
Podium finishes all around - they did a fantastic job!
North Country Trail: We took the day off on Sunday, spending it lounging on the beach, exploring downtown Petoskey, collecting rocks at Wilderness State Park and cooking a tasty steak dinner. On Monday, we intended to try the trails at Boyne Highlands, but the local shop guys encouraged us to hit a section of the North Country Trail instead. They gave us a map and everything, but neglected to tell us that we'd just climb...and climb...and climb. After three miles of nontechnical ascents, we got bored and turned back around. The ride down, however, was anything but boring! The rush made all that grinding worthwhile!
Getting started at the NCT trailhead
Boyne Highlands: We don't listen well...though the locals told us the Highlands was pretty torn up from logging, we wanted to try something else after the NCT. The folks at the resort gave us a trail map...for the downhill park. What the heck, we thought! Let's give it a try. We ended up hiking up a trail we would not dare descend on our cross-country bikes for fear of busting both frames and bones. Once on top, we admired the view and tried to find a fun, relatively safe way down, but ended up in a logged-up mess. Eh.
The scenery was pretty amazing
Cute girls in pink
Made it all the way to the top
I resolve to never take a photo in my helmet again...unless I'm riding, of course.
Aaron did pretty well on this skinny, but Mitch did an endo!
Vasa Singletrack: So our first two trails on Monday were not the best, but Vasa made up for all of that! It's one of my favorite places to ride: flat, fast and flowy! I took a good spill on Monday but felt great, then rode a little easier on tired legs Tuesday morning. Of course, I spent the whole time on Tuesday thinking I had to pace myself for two laps, but we called it quits after just one in favor of wine tasting.
Another trailhead shot - man, that's a great ride!
Enjoying Michigan wine country
The TART (and some road): We initially planned to ride Big M on Wednesday, but the forecast called for rain so we skipped it. Horrible call: it simply threatened to rain all day, but the sky never actually opened up. Still, it was nice to take a day to get our next camp set up (Mitch and I moved from Traverse City to Interlochen when Nichole and Aaron headed home) and take a quick trip to "our" lighthouse in Frankfort to watch the big waves. Thursday, though, we were back on the bikes - after a trip to urgent care to take care of Mitch's hacking cough. Sick as he was, though, we spent 40 miles in the saddle, riding the Traverse Area Recreational Trail and various roads on the Leelanau Peninsula. It was gorgeous...we stopped at Blackstar and got the best cheese in the world, then had ice cream for lunch in Suttons Bay. Mitch even climbed a few of the massive hills right next to me, coaching me on my cadence and breathing. Made me want a road bike instead of just my mountain bike with road tires...
If the high prices and all the people weren't enough motivation to relocate to Interlochen, the Vicious Little Monsters that wrecked our tent to get at some food most certain were. Evil squirrels!
The Point Betsie lighthouse, where we got engaged back in 2003
Watching the waves and the kiteboarders in Frankfort
Looking hot in his spandex after climbing a big hill
I don't think the cheese at Blackstar came from this cow!
Mmm, ice cream for lunch...
Beautiful cherry trees
Now we're back home, with the whole weekend to clean up, catch up and get ready for the week. We're hoping to get in a couple quick laps at Maybury on Sunday when we go to pick up Chip from my parents'. I can't get enough of my bike this season, and I love it!
Boyne XC Marathon Race: This was the impetus for the whole trip...why not take advantage of being all the way up there for the race? Mitch, Nichole and Aaron were the only O2W racers competing (though I think I did my part making sure they had enough water!) and they all did great.
Here's the crew before the race - I'll be sporting that pink jersey at Stony Creek in a week!
Podium finishes all around - they did a fantastic job!
North Country Trail: We took the day off on Sunday, spending it lounging on the beach, exploring downtown Petoskey, collecting rocks at Wilderness State Park and cooking a tasty steak dinner. On Monday, we intended to try the trails at Boyne Highlands, but the local shop guys encouraged us to hit a section of the North Country Trail instead. They gave us a map and everything, but neglected to tell us that we'd just climb...and climb...and climb. After three miles of nontechnical ascents, we got bored and turned back around. The ride down, however, was anything but boring! The rush made all that grinding worthwhile!
Getting started at the NCT trailhead
Boyne Highlands: We don't listen well...though the locals told us the Highlands was pretty torn up from logging, we wanted to try something else after the NCT. The folks at the resort gave us a trail map...for the downhill park. What the heck, we thought! Let's give it a try. We ended up hiking up a trail we would not dare descend on our cross-country bikes for fear of busting both frames and bones. Once on top, we admired the view and tried to find a fun, relatively safe way down, but ended up in a logged-up mess. Eh.
The scenery was pretty amazing
Cute girls in pink
Made it all the way to the top
I resolve to never take a photo in my helmet again...unless I'm riding, of course.
Aaron did pretty well on this skinny, but Mitch did an endo!
Vasa Singletrack: So our first two trails on Monday were not the best, but Vasa made up for all of that! It's one of my favorite places to ride: flat, fast and flowy! I took a good spill on Monday but felt great, then rode a little easier on tired legs Tuesday morning. Of course, I spent the whole time on Tuesday thinking I had to pace myself for two laps, but we called it quits after just one in favor of wine tasting.
Another trailhead shot - man, that's a great ride!
Enjoying Michigan wine country
The TART (and some road): We initially planned to ride Big M on Wednesday, but the forecast called for rain so we skipped it. Horrible call: it simply threatened to rain all day, but the sky never actually opened up. Still, it was nice to take a day to get our next camp set up (Mitch and I moved from Traverse City to Interlochen when Nichole and Aaron headed home) and take a quick trip to "our" lighthouse in Frankfort to watch the big waves. Thursday, though, we were back on the bikes - after a trip to urgent care to take care of Mitch's hacking cough. Sick as he was, though, we spent 40 miles in the saddle, riding the Traverse Area Recreational Trail and various roads on the Leelanau Peninsula. It was gorgeous...we stopped at Blackstar and got the best cheese in the world, then had ice cream for lunch in Suttons Bay. Mitch even climbed a few of the massive hills right next to me, coaching me on my cadence and breathing. Made me want a road bike instead of just my mountain bike with road tires...
If the high prices and all the people weren't enough motivation to relocate to Interlochen, the Vicious Little Monsters that wrecked our tent to get at some food most certain were. Evil squirrels!
The Point Betsie lighthouse, where we got engaged back in 2003
Watching the waves and the kiteboarders in Frankfort
Looking hot in his spandex after climbing a big hill
I don't think the cheese at Blackstar came from this cow!
Mmm, ice cream for lunch...
Beautiful cherry trees
Now we're back home, with the whole weekend to clean up, catch up and get ready for the week. We're hoping to get in a couple quick laps at Maybury on Sunday when we go to pick up Chip from my parents'. I can't get enough of my bike this season, and I love it!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Going off the Grid
It's been a great week...and a not-so-great-week. Let's start with the good: I've been super busy and productive, because we're going on vacation next week. It's a biking trip in the wilds of Northern Michigan, so I won't have access to the Internet. That means I've been busting butt on grad school stuff to get it all turned in early, while grocery shopping, packing and planning. At work, I'm almost finished with the first draft of our new campus life publication. I wanted to get that over to our graphic designer before I left, and I think I'm going to make it happen! Then I can concentrate on being a good one-woman support crew for Mitch, Nichole and Aaron as they tackle the Boyne Marathon mountain bike race tomorrow, and on having a great time for the rest of the week.
We've been incredibly blessed, too, by a job offer for Mitch. I'll post details when I can, but it brings him home to me. Praise the Lord, and thank you for all your prayers!
And speaking of prayers, here's the tough news for the week: Alma College student David Moilanen fell into a coma while on a research trip in Ecuador with one of our faculty members. As of now, doctors in Quito believe he has a blood clot in his brain. They are hoping to fly him back to Michigan today. David is a great kid...I met him and his family as his admissions representative during his college search process and got to know him better through the Alma Ski Team, for which he is president and I'm the staff advisor. I've been praying so hard for him and his family...please join me. I know God is watching over this young man.
We've been incredibly blessed, too, by a job offer for Mitch. I'll post details when I can, but it brings him home to me. Praise the Lord, and thank you for all your prayers!
And speaking of prayers, here's the tough news for the week: Alma College student David Moilanen fell into a coma while on a research trip in Ecuador with one of our faculty members. As of now, doctors in Quito believe he has a blood clot in his brain. They are hoping to fly him back to Michigan today. David is a great kid...I met him and his family as his admissions representative during his college search process and got to know him better through the Alma Ski Team, for which he is president and I'm the staff advisor. I've been praying so hard for him and his family...please join me. I know God is watching over this young man.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Good Rides
We spent the Fourth of July weekend downstate with my family, and in between getting ready for the Independence Day party and lounging at the lake, I got in three fantastic rides:
Island Lake: Since it's so close to my parents' house, ILRA is an old standby. When we only have a limited amount of time to ride, we hit those trails. Because it's so familiar, it's a good place to go out, ride hard, and try to shave some time off the laps. On Friday, though, I took a leisurely ride with my mom. She's just learning to mountain bike; in fact, she rides a cruiser (but we put some Pythons on it, to make it better for her)! Her goal is to make all the hills on the Blue trail, and she's *thisclose*. I loved riding hills ahead of her, then cheering for her and telling her what line to take.
Poto: A ride I generally approach with trepedation, the Potowatomi is actually an awesome trail - or so I've finally realized. Yes, it's grueling at times and yes, some of the climbs are near impossible for me, but I had an awesome ride there on Saturday morning. I wasn't pushing it too hard since I'm still getting over that bug, but my average speed was still slightly faster than it was last time I went out with Nichole. Mitch had a good ride, too...except for the pinch flat he got right at the end of his first lap, which prevented him from riding his second lap. (The patch kit wasn't effective, and he wasn't carrying a spare tube.)
Brighton: We rode this at the suggestion of our friend, Dan. Despite the damage inflicted by Sailor Jerry rum, Mitch rode Torn Shirt and Murray Lake, while Dan and I just did the latter. My legs were pretty tired from Poto, but I did a decent job. Dan set what seemed like an easy pace for himself and I worked hard to keep up. It was fun having someone with whom to ride, and I even got some good climbing tips. Gotta keep working on that weakness!
I probably won't ride much (or at all) this week, because I have a ton of homework to do and vacation preparations to make. But I'll make up for it next week, that's for sure!
Island Lake: Since it's so close to my parents' house, ILRA is an old standby. When we only have a limited amount of time to ride, we hit those trails. Because it's so familiar, it's a good place to go out, ride hard, and try to shave some time off the laps. On Friday, though, I took a leisurely ride with my mom. She's just learning to mountain bike; in fact, she rides a cruiser (but we put some Pythons on it, to make it better for her)! Her goal is to make all the hills on the Blue trail, and she's *thisclose*. I loved riding hills ahead of her, then cheering for her and telling her what line to take.
Poto: A ride I generally approach with trepedation, the Potowatomi is actually an awesome trail - or so I've finally realized. Yes, it's grueling at times and yes, some of the climbs are near impossible for me, but I had an awesome ride there on Saturday morning. I wasn't pushing it too hard since I'm still getting over that bug, but my average speed was still slightly faster than it was last time I went out with Nichole. Mitch had a good ride, too...except for the pinch flat he got right at the end of his first lap, which prevented him from riding his second lap. (The patch kit wasn't effective, and he wasn't carrying a spare tube.)
Brighton: We rode this at the suggestion of our friend, Dan. Despite the damage inflicted by Sailor Jerry rum, Mitch rode Torn Shirt and Murray Lake, while Dan and I just did the latter. My legs were pretty tired from Poto, but I did a decent job. Dan set what seemed like an easy pace for himself and I worked hard to keep up. It was fun having someone with whom to ride, and I even got some good climbing tips. Gotta keep working on that weakness!
I probably won't ride much (or at all) this week, because I have a ton of homework to do and vacation preparations to make. But I'll make up for it next week, that's for sure!
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