Life in the slow lane

Tomorrow marks the 1 week anniversary of my move to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, and in that time I have learned several very important things:

1) This town is very, very small
2) You can furnish a bedroom for under $200
3) There's this great little ice cream place called Doozy's
4) Roommates are great
5) I think I'm really going to love my job

Let's tackle these things one at a time.  First, if I had moved here from Columbia this would still be a big transition, but to come from Cincinnati and Saint Louis, big cities with roughly 1 million people (suburbs included,) to a town of 40,000 that is smack dab in the middle of nowhere, was a big change. I'm still trying to get used to the quiet, the sense of security, and actually having a backyard. Now, they do have most of the bigger department stores, namely Walmart, Sam's, Target, and JC Penney, and two major grocery stores, so that is a plus, and I'm really starting to enjoy the change of pace.  Once the semester starts we'll see how that changes the atmosphere.  The town does not have local channels, so right now we have a TV without a purpose.  This means lots of reading, which is not a bad thing, and is making me realize how much I missed spending my time with a good book.

It is true, I drove from Saint Louis with just my little Honda Civic, packed to the brim, as my sister can attest to, and no furniture on hand.  Moving into a house, the only room I had to worry about was the bedroom.  I was able to get a dresser, bookcase, mattress and bed frame for under $200! This was all thanks Walmart and Sam's. I assembled everything myself, and although it took me several hours, it was completely worth it. I recommend this to anyone who is looking for a temporary housing situation.  


So, on my first night in Mount Pleasant, I was taken to this local ice cream place called Doozy's.  Now for any of you who know me, I crave all things sweet, particularly ice cream and/or chocolate, so when the offer came up I was quick to accept.  This place was fantastic! I got "Dirt Pudding," which was chocolate ice cream with Oreo crumbles and hot fudge, and was possibly the most delicious thing ever.  If anyone comes to visit me, which I doubt will happen, that will be our first stop.


This being my first experience with roommates, I was more than a little nervous, but all my fears have been erased. I do like to have my own personal space sometime, but we know when to give each other alone time or when to do things together.  We're still waiting on the third roommate to arrive, which should be happening later tonight, but we're enjoying getting to know each other, and I've been getting the grand tour of the town and different things to do.  Now that I know what having a roommate is like, I'm wondering why I didn't do this earlier.

Today was only my second day at the new job, but I am already loving it! I found out yesterday that I will be in charge of gymnastics, which I think will be super exciting, and we are also planning to initiate a brand new mentoring program, something which I feel that I had a big part in promoting in our initial meeting today.  We will also each be working with around 15 kids on a weekly basis to keep track of their course progress.  The level of involvement that I'll get is just what I wanted, and the student-athletes I've met to this point are all really great.  The staff members are also great, although none can beat the women of SLU! (Especially my 2 "moms" Robin and Margo.)  

That's all for now, and in a few days I'll be off on my road trip to Maine, but maybe I'll blog on the go! Much love from Michigan!

Bucket List

One of my Facebook friends posed an interesting question earlier this week, and on the eve of the championships of one of my favorite all-time events, I thought it only appropriate:


What is on your bucket list?


I am not  your average girl/woman.  My life tends to revolve around sports, whether that be as a spectator or in my professional life.  And it's not just one sport in particular, I'm obsessed with them all, from the popular and football to tennis, golf, and wrestling (and no, not the "pro" kind.) I'm on espn.com on a 5 or 6 time a day basis, and you might wonder how someone like me deals without having cable.  Let me tell you, it can get really rough sometimes, but I've survived so far. :)  I've played sports since I was little, devoted notebooks and scrapbooks to sports page newspaper clippings, and had my bedroom walls decorated with season schedules and athlete posters since I was a little girl dribbling with my dad in the driveway.  So when it comes to a bucket list, you will kind of see mine tends to have a general theme, and I've had this list since at least high school, maybe earlier.

1. Attend Wimbledon (yes, this may surprise some people that this is at the top of my list over basketball, but this event just epitomizes all I love about sports. The tradition and history, the venue, the class, the masses of fans, plus the chance to travel to England doesn't hurt.)  I want this so badly, I would even be okay with going and sitting on the hill and watching on the big screen if tickets to the final weren't available at Centre Court.  Just to be a part of the atmosphere would be worth it.


2. NCAA Final Four/Championship- I have attended 1st/2nd round games, as well as Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, and flown all over the country on my own to do so, but nothing would be as significant as attending the final four/championship weekend. Especially if Mizzou finally makes their first appearance! There is nothing quite like March Madness, and the culmination of the whole year is monumental.  This is so close to being number one on my list, but is a close second.

3. The Masters- I don't know what it is about golf, but it is honestly one of my favorite sports to watch. Most young people find it boring, but I find myself silently screaming for a great putt (or loudly screaming when I'm at home watching on TV.)  The Masters, like Wimbledon, carries so much history and tradition, and I've heard that people try to get tickets for years before actually getting selected, so I better start now!

4. Olympics- Summer or winter, I don't really care, just to say that I was able to attend.  I have to say that in general I prefer summer as a whole, but there are a few winter sports that are my overall favorites, like speed skating or snow boarding.  It would be great to go when the US is host, but I also love to travel so I would honestly go anywhere if I had the money.

5. Super Bowl/NCAA National Championship- Yes, I know these are kind of low on my list, but football is just not at the top for me. I do love it, just a few other events took precedence.  I'm not sure if I had to pick between the two of these which one I'd choose, I guess it would depend on who was playing, but I may actually choose the college game, just because nothing is better than true college fans/alumni supporting their school.  The dedication just runs so deep.

Now these are only my top 5, but you see where I'm going with this.  I do have to say, I have made some minor accomplishments in almost all of these categories in the last several years.

1. Cincinnati hosts a tournament every year that I attended twice, watching Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic
2.  I went to NCAA tournament games through the Elite Eight two different years, each time watching Mizzou
3. Attended a PGA event in Akron, Ohio and saw Tiger, Phil, and all the other top ranked players in person
4. This one I haven't quite tackled yet, although I have seen Ryan Lochte swim at the Missouri Grand Prix :)
5. I've been to two bowl games, including the Cotton Bowl when Mizzou demolished Arkansas and Tony Temple had the game of his life

So maybe someday I'll be able to accomplish all these things, but until then I guess I'll keep dreaming...

So this is my first blog post ever, and I'm not sure where to begin. Today I guess I felt like talking about the difficult place I am in my life right now, trying to establish my career and "find myself."  


I guess you can say the madness began almost 2 years ago, when I moved from home for the first time to pursue my master's degree in Sports Administration. This was a big deal for me, because not only was I leaving the only place I'd called home, I was moving 8 hours away in a completely different state!  I knew this was the best decision for my desired career path, but it was a struggle to leave my friends and family behind.  I moved to the great state of Ohio, and spent 1 1/2 years there, meeting new people and working all sorts of different jobs to afford school and the cost of an apartment.  There were stretches of time, sometimes weeks, when I doubted the choice I made, and didn't even think I'd make any new friends.  In the back of my mind I always thought, "well, when they know I'm not going to be staying forever why would they want to hang out with me?" Thankfully I proved myself wrong, and I still have friends there that I keep in touch with frequently.  


After Ohio, I moved back to Missouri, but this time Saint Louis, still two hours from home, to complete an internship that would finish up my master's degree.  When I got the opportunity to return so much closer to everyone I knew, I was thrilled.  More frequent visits to Columbia, the chance for my friends to come visit, as well as the friends I had here in St. Louis.  Unfortunately it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped, mostly I feel because of the schedule I had working 7 days a week.  I also feel that sometimes I do a poor job of keeping in touch with my friends, not only because I'm busy but being away from them for so long is just really straining on relationships.  This makes life even harder, because I'm not one of those people who makes friends easily, and I only have a handful I truly and deeply love, and so I blame myself for us not communicating more often.  


Now I'm moving to Michigan, 2 weeks from Wednesday, and I'm starting to get to panic mode.  To move now 11 hours away from home without ever having visited, is definitely intimidating, but I am truly excited for the opportunity this job is providing.  It IS only a year long commitment, which means I'll most likely be moving again next summer, but my mom keeps reminding me that at this time in my life it's normal.  I'm just ready to settle down in one place and stay there for a LONG, LONG, time. 

The people I am going to miss the most are definitely my family members, especially my mom and my sister, who I've grown closer with since I've moved away. They are my biggest sources of encouragement and I can't wait to go on our summer vacation in less than 4 weeks!!! I'm also really going to miss my friend Heather and her two boys, especially this rascal: 

I act like he's my own kid, but I love him so darn much, and we have so much fun together.  I'm also going to miss all my Columbia friends, I just hope they realize how much I really do love them even if I sometimes forget to text or call as often as I should have.  I just wish I could have spent more time with them while I was back in Missouri.  If they want to come and visit in the next two weeks before I move, I definitely would not complain, but I know we all lead very busy lives.

I guess that's all for now! I'll be back home one last time before I move for the 4th, and maybe I'll see some of you there!