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!