Marc and Sarah's Wedding

Last weekend was very busy, but the highlight was definitely Marc Hong and Sarah DeYoung's wedding at Alma:


Here's the bride, all smiles and sass before the ceremony.


Anna and I couldn't resist a photo with the groom.


The bridal party with the newlyweds - aren't their dresses pretty?


The wedding cake had three different flavors! I don't have cake-cutting pictures because there were too many people up there, but they both had cake on their faces by the time they were done!


Sarah and Marc are all smiles as the reception winds down. They've had a whirlwind weekend!


The bride and groom with the old Alma alums.

Our other weekend event, besides getting pregnancy updates from Anna, was Father's Day down with my dad. Though we were there for only ten hours, we managed to ride at Island Lake, get stuck in the pontoon boat because the impeller broke, spend time with Grandpa, go wakesurfing and wakeboarding, and eat a huge dinner. Needless to say, we were exhausted by the time we got back to Mt. Pleasant, but it was worth it.

To keep the momentum of our summer up, this weekend we're going camping at Leelanau State Park with Adrienne (a high school friend), her boyfriend Kyle, Bruce and my parents. Plans include biking at Vasa, wine-tasting, and going to the beach. Wahoo! All this will come after the second freshman orientation on Friday, during which we will strive to entertain almost 200 new Alma students and their parents. Talk about a draining day! I guess that's what happens when you recruit a RECORD CLASS!

Go Scots!

This should be of interest to all your AC alums! (Is there even anyone who didn't go to Alma who reads this?!?)

End of the week

It's Friday, and another gorgeous week comes to a close. Work has been busy...we did a two-day planning retreat in Mt. Pleasant on Tuesday and Wednesday, and while at times it was really frustrating (a group that large seems great for brainstorming but terrible for making decisions!), it was generally helpful. We took the Myers-Briggs personality test as a staff to learn more about each other and identify some of the dynamics in the office. I'm an ISTJ, for anyone who's familiar with this assessment. :)

Other than work, we had our third week of beach volleyball and lost both our games. This league is more advanced than the one we were in last year, but I think it's where we need to be. I subbed in the intermediate league and it's kind of full of a bunch of yahoos who don't like to follow the rules and are more concerned with drinking beer than playing volleyball. So, while it's frustrating to lose, at least we are losing to superior teams who call their own net violations.

Our church is preparing for next week's Vacation Bible School and while we haven't been able to help out a ton, we did go over and blow up balloons for over an hour last night. I have a blister on one of my fingers from tying them all together to help with the balloon arches! The theme is "The Greatest Show on Earth" and you should see how they've transformed the whole place into a big circus arena! If I have a chance, I'll go over and take some pictures today.

And the best news of all - tomorrow, Marc Hong and Sarah DeYoung are getting married at Alma, and Tim and Anna arrived late last night from North Carolina for the wedding! They're obviously staying with us, and we'd have made some plans for them to get together with more people but they have to leave early on Sunday morning to go home. I'm working this morning while they catch up on their sleep but I'm heading back at lunchtime so we can spend some time together. It's crazy to think that next time I see them, they'll be parents! Wow!

Well, I need to prepare for a meeting. I'm coordinating the Orientation Committee again this year, and I need to meet with my co-advisor (though he seems to have that role in name only most times) to plan some off-campus excursions for Labor Day weekend. Time to get organized!

Mitch's Skydiving Adventure

Last weekend, Mitch did something I'd never do: he went skydiving! Here are some of the photos from his adventure:


Thumbs up...he's ready to go!


Oh my goodness, this would freak me out!


Free-falling above the Frankenmuth area


Gliding back down to solid ground


Thanks Mike - what a ride!

It wasn't even my birthday...

...but it kind of felt like it! Yesterday I joined Megan and two of her friends to celebrate her 22nd birthday, and we were royally pampered by her husband! He bought all four of us pedicures (I do still have my callouses), movie tickets to see Mr. Brooks, popcorn and pop at the movies, and dinner at Gengi's, a Japanese steakhouse in Midland. He also took Mitch and I out for drinks at The Cabin at the end of the night, though I'm not sure Mitch exactly appreciated the celebratory shot!

Since we had to skip volleyball last night, I'm pleased to report that I'll be subbing for another player in tonight's league. Of course, I will look very funny wearing socks to protect my pretty toes! On another note, Mitch and my mom are going skydiving this weekend! There's no way you would get me to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, but he will have a good time. I'll try to post pics or something...scary!

Good morning!

Though it's usually a struggle to get out of bed in the morning, today felt like a great day. Not only did I have a blast this weekend (hanging out with Bruce, swimming and Frisbee at the gravel pits, Pirates 3), we were also very productive. When I woke up this morning, the apartment was vacuumed; Chip had a clean litterbox; all our fruit for the week was cut up or washed; the laundry was done, folded, and put away; all my dress pants were ironed (thanks to Mitch, who did that while I edited his cover letter); the bathroom was cleaned, including freshly washed rugs and towels; and because of the rain, my balcony garden looks healthy and amazing. Top that off with all the new clothes hanging in my closet (spent too much money at Express - Mom's fault - but now my summer work wardrobe actually exists) and you have a recipe for the most fantastic Monday possible.

What am I looking forward to this week? New clothes to wear, for one! Also, it's Megan's birthday tomorrow and Chris has a full afternoon planned for her and her friends, including me. Pedicure, anyone? (To anyone who's ever had one: can I request that they not file off my callouses? I like and need them!)

And I guess I would be remiss if I didn't post my opinion of the new Pirates movie. I thought it was definitely too long, and it almost seemed like nothing really happened until the very end. I kept thinking, What is happening here? and felt that too many subplots were introduced and not really resolved. All the betraying and scheming is complicated enough without trying to figure out how crazy crab lady and freaky fish man were in love if she was never human in the first place...anyway, I still maintain they could have stopped at the first movie, because that one was GREAT.

Well, at least it's over.

We're both done with the GMAT. Mitch did well, but I didn't perform quite as I had hoped. With all the studying and the good scores on the practice exams, I anticipated a much better score, but the math section was ridiculously hard - much harder than anything on the practice exams. Still, I'm thankful for all your thoughts and prayers, everyone!

Also disappointing was our first beach volleyball game on Tuesday. Mitch, Ray, Kristy, Gabe and I are in the advanced league because Kristy's schedule conflicted with the intermediate league, and we lost both our first games: one to a team of two. Yes, two girls beat us, though they were CMU volleyball players. Many of the folks we met at open gym this winter are on teams, and by the looks of it all those teams are going to school us royally. So, Tim and Courtney, you're not missing much over in these parts!

On a brighter note, I spruced up our balcony with some potted plants: yellow zinneas, pink morning glories, blue heliotrope, basil, a tomato plant, and a hanging basket full of multicolored impatiens. When they start to bloom (or bear fruit) I'll post some pictures...I don't really have a green thumb, but last year's plants were a success and I anticipate the same this summer.

And finally, we have "a weekend full of nothing to do at all...yeehaw!" The forecasted rain means that we're tanking our tentative plans to camp in Grayling and do a mountain bike race at Hanson Hills and hanging out in Mt. P instead. It will be a good opportunity for Mitch to buckle down on his job search, so he can get out of the increasingly difficult situation at the bank. Not to be greedy, but prayers that an opportunity will present itself would be greatly appreciated!

Memorial Day Lessons

Here's to the most eventful Memorial Day weekend in memory! Of course, every weekend at Jon's is full of great experiences and stories...but here's what I learned this time around:

#1: I must be a hippie pot smoker in denial, because all climbers, mountain bikers and wakeboarders smoke the reefer.

#2: Breakfast at Jon's is always excessive: think pancakes or French toast, hash browns, bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs, every single morning. And a word to the wise: adding chocolate chips to whole grain pancakes doesn't really make them taste much better.

#3: Sometimes you just need three nights in a row of excessive drinking. You'll be crowned That Girl by the end, but maybe it's worth it because you realize you have friends that will take care of you 'til sunrise. (And no, this was not me - I couldn't handle that much craziness!)

#4: Vasa is the coolest mountain biking trail, and what I lack in endurance can be compensated for with a bit of technical skill and a lot of pushing it to the edge. And at the end of the ride, there's nothing like a passion fruit margarita to rehydrate!

#5: SPF 4 just doesn't do the trick.

Mitch takes the GMAT today, and mine is scheduled for tomorrow. Wahoo...I'm mostly just ready to not do math problems each night, and to have it over. Tonight is also our first sand volleyball game, followed by the season finale of House. I really should take another practice test instead of gorging on homemade popcorn with Ray and Kristy, but maybe I can get out of work early and do one before the game.

Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.

If you love the TV show "24" like Mitch and I do, you really need to read this.

Yeah Jack Bauer.

ZOO-DE-MACKINAC

What a weekend! The pictures can tell the story:


On the damp, slightly chilly Saturday morning, the guys departed from Boyne Highlands to ride approximately 27 miles along the Lake Michigan shore, through the scenic Tunnel of Trees, and into Cross Village...


...where they met up with Miriam and me. We joined the riders for the final 24 miles of the trip: a much flatter, gentler, if slightly less pretty ride. An hour and a half later...


...we arrived in Mackinaw City, thankful for our matching Adidas sweatbands yet not quite as exhausted as we anticipated. I still had energy for...


...Oatmeal Cookie shots on Mackinac Island with Adrienne and her friend Amber, who also participated in the ride. While we optimistically planned to party the night away until the last ferry back to the mainland at 2 am...


...we ended up leaving the Mustang Lounge - the greatest bar on the Island - at 9:30 pm to catch the 10 pm ferry back. It was a great day, and I look forward to next year when I will tackle all 51 miles!

Update: You can see more pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/skibunny11282!

Mother's Day

Mitch and I had a lovely Mother's Day with his parents. They joined us for church, where they got to meet our friends Chris andMegan, and Mason, our soon-to-be godson. Then we enjoyed a killer brunch: crepes with homemade custard and berries, quiche, fresh strawberries, and bacon prepared with our patented grill technique. (Yes, preparing this required cooking for quite a few hours on Saturday morning.) With full stomachs, we traveled to Dow Gardens to experience spring in all its glory. Just the scent of the flowers and the sun on my face made it perfect, not to mention all the colors! Here are some photos from our afternoon:


Mitch and his mom





In addition to Sunday's festivities, we had an awesome Saturday, starting with a mountain bike outing in Lansing. Despite the effects of the previous night, Bruce joined us at Burchfield for a sweet ride. That trail is way different than Island Lake or Brighton Rec, my two usual trails. This one is really twisty-turny, with lots of log piles to ride over and some other obstacles that I usually avoid (especially after witnessing Bruce's endo!). I only hit one tree, but had many other close calls. After the ride, we went back to Bruce's place, made dinner, and watched a movie before heading back to Mt. P.

One more item before I actually start working for the day: I took a practice GMAT last night and rocked the verbal section! Overall, my score was pretty decent but I need a ton of work in the math if I want to up it. My new strategy is to make flashcards (yes, flashcards) with some basic algebra concepts so I don't have to guess as much when it comes to exponents, functions, ratios and probability.

Courtney-style :)

Work: I've been remiss in posting the great news here - on Monday we hit 400 net deposits, and they keep rolling in! It looks like we should have a phenomenal incoming class thanks to all the hard work across campus. To celebrate, my coworkers and I hit the Braveheart on Monday evening and had a grand time.

Weekends: We're trying to bike as much as we can to get ready for the Zoo-de-Mackinac in a week and a half. Last weekend we rode at Island Lake, but Mitch broke his seatpost so he only did 9 miles while Bobby and I did about 13. I felt great, and I hope we can ride again on Saturday, possibly at Lansing's Burchfield.

GMAT: This lovely exam is scheduled for May 30, and I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of studying needed for the math section! Luckily, The GMAT for Dummies has given me some good ratio and probability tricks (I was never particularly good at those types of problems, anyway) and the geometry review rekindled a bit of knowledge. By the way, does anyone know what a units digit is?

And that's what's occupying my mind - later!

This sure rings true!

In addition to lunch breaks that could be case studies in sexual harrassment, working in Admissions does have its funny moments. This article sounds like most of my students!

The Magic Number

Today we hit the magic number: 400 gross commitment deposits to Alma College by May 1! Wahoo! Net is about 370, which is still roughly 20 more than we had at the beginning of the 06-07 academic year. We are well on our way to enrolling the magic 400 for the 07-08 school year. Keep in mind that Alma College only had 400 students in an incoming class five times in the college's entire history (my class included), and all those times were accompanied by large financial aid expenditures. This year is different...financial aid is good, but not over-the-top. Mostly, we are succeeding because everyone on campus has been contributing to the effort. What a great campus culture we're developing!

I still need 20 students to meet my territory goal, though. Oakland County is about the most competitive county in the state, with very demanding families. Here's hoping I can pull it off!

It is mostly official.

This is probably not The Year of the House for the DeYoungs. We got a new bid from the builder in Mt. Pleasant and while it did not include any finish work, it was still too high. I'm strangely content about the whole thing...we're planning to contact him today and tell him the project is not fiscally feasible right now, but that we hope to be in a better position next spring.

The plan (and yes, I always have a plan) is to keep our eyes open for property and if we happen to find the perfect parcel, we'll probably buy it and sit on it 'til it's time to build. We will also remain open to the prospect of purchasing an existing home, but only until mid-June, at which time we will sign another year-long lease at our lovely apartment complex.

I know there is a reason (or many reasons) that none of the things we so strongly desired worked out, and since I have faith in that, I'm actually glad of it. Did that make sense? Second try: I'm glad God is watching out for us and not letting us make mistakes that we don't even realize would be mistakes. Better? Sounds better to me.

Plus, we're going to have an awesome summer without the pressures of new home ownership. Strolls to The Cabin for pizza and Long Islands, bike rides to beach volleyball games, Ultimate Frisbee on the huge lawn at our apartment complex, dips in the pool, plus free time on weekends for trips to the lake, the Dunes, up North, and anywhere else we want to go. Why did we want to build a home now in the first place, especially since it's the last summer hurrah before Ray and Kristy leave Mt. P for dental school and clinicals, respectively?

I love how...

...I asked Mitch to pick me up some medicine at the drug store, and he came back with my favorite candy, too.

...God sends peace and acceptance in the wake of inner turmoil and a good cry.

...friendships are both easy and challenging, but always fulfilling.

Fantastic weekend!

The weather could not have been better this weekend, and we took full advantage of it! Mitch had to work on Saturday morning, so once he got out we packed up the bikes and headed down to my parents' and hit the trails. Both of us had rough rides at Island Lake on Saturday afternoon, but Sunday morning's ride at Brighton Rec felt great! Though I shouldn't be so proud of keeping up with a guy more than twice my age, I was pleased to ride with my dad the whole time. Usually he's way ahead of me: I chalk my success up to my amazing bike and being in slightly better shape than last season.

Warning: juvenile humor ahead!

So one of our favorite car games to play involves thinking of every kind of car we can, then adding the word "anal" to the name. For some reason, my "top five" (in no particular order) never seem to get old:

1. Anal Wrangler
2. Anal Prowler
3. Anal Ram
4. Anal Gremlin
5. Anal Fusion

I know not everyone will find this humorous...but I couldn't help but share in hopes of making someone giggle just a bit! :)

The Battle Continues

I suppose I owe a house update, after my earlier frustration. Here's the shortest account I can give:

We went to a builder in Mt. Pleasant, got house plans, picked out a lot owned by the builder, got the estimate, and choked on the price. Told the builder we'd have to do some trimming; he's seeing what he can do from his end and we're pricing out finish-type things (appliances, cabinets, flooring, etc.) on our own so we can be more educated.

Once receiving the estimate, I sent the drawings to my aunt and uncle, who own a construction company in South Lyon. During our phone conversation, she said the price was a bit high, but that the cost of materials is going down. She's going to look at things with my uncle and ballpark us, and we're also going to look at some plans they already have if we go down there for some biking this weekend.

Working two angles at a time is mind-boggling to me: I'm definitely more of a single-track planner. In some ways, the builder up here would be easier because the land is already there. In every other way, though, I'd rather have my aunt and uncle heading up this project. That would mean, however, going back to the drawing board for land...luckily, I have an incredibly supportive family who is willing to spend many summer weekends helping us!

At this point, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge thoughts about being young and free, not tied to a mortgage or a single mid-Michigan location. Try as I might, I've never been able to make myself comfortable with the idea of living a number of different places before settling down. It's like I have this instinct to put down roots and start making the kind of life my parents had. I try to fight it, fantasizing about grand adventures around the world, but the truth is that I can't really picture myself being happy doing that. I think of silly things, like what I would do with my cat, how I would miss holidays with my family and summer weekends at the lake, and what it would be like to have to make new friends everywhere I went. I guess I'm a homebody, but the world needs homebodies...that doesn't mean, though, that long roadtrips and journeys to see my more adventurous friends and family are out of the question! Quite to the contrary; I admire all of you and have loved the chances I've had (and the future ones I will have) to visit you!

I'm OK with that.

I get the impression that many of my coworkers think I'm naive because I've stopped participating in their complain-a-thons. They seem to think I must not know what's going on because I refuse to be in a constant state of agitation. The truth? There are so many positive things taking place around campus, both tangible and intangible, that while there are still areas for improvement, I'm OK focusing on the progress we are making. I'm also trying to be reasonable in my expectations: if something isn't going to happen now, or can't happen the way I envision it, I'm not going to sit around and squawk about it. Finally, I'm just too busy. Period. I feel like enough of my time is wasted in formal meetings, without adding additional time for these informal whine-fests.

Photos from North Carolina

I know I was supposed to put these up a long time ago, but better late than never, right? Actually, it's good to do them now and remember the fun times and great weather, as I look out my window and see the results of the April snowstorm...

Here are Mitch and Tim trying to put new brake pads on Tim's car. They took the wheel off at least three times and were never able to overcome some weird problem. (Tim, please tell me it's fixed now!)



And now we have me and the boys getting ready for our second mountain bike ride of the week:



Of course, there were many rounds of Frisbee golf...



...and some amazing meals, including this one featuring authentic food from El Salvador.



Really, you can't beat spending time with friends. Since I'm in this photo-posting mood, how about a slap some more up here from Bruce's "Welcome Back" party in Lansing?

This is Jon holding up Miriam in the "Statue of Liberty" while Bruce jumps up to give her a high-five in celebration of a strike:



And of course, the requisite shots of the "the girls" and "the guys."





All right, now I am starving and it's time for lunch!