A place where happiness is never-ending...

It has been 8 long months, and 8 months is too long! After rescheduling over and over again since January, Ryan and I finally made it for a weekend together up north. In case those of you reading this weren't aware - I LOVE up north. I love the drive up, which takes us farther and farther from normal routines of life and work. I love seeing the shoe tree along 131, the sign with our favorite insurance agent, Marc Patrick, and the first sightings of Lake Charlevoix as we get closer to the cottage. I love the winding road along the lake that provides a constant view the clear blue-green water, and I truly enjoy when we see the sign for "Ye Nyne Olde Holles" golf course, because that means we are moments away from our driveway down to the cottage. At the point where our cottage is built, you can no longer see houses or the lake from the road, only trees. When we see our name post, we turn onto a driveway covered with stones - I love that sound - the tires rolling over the stones as we drive through the trees to the houses below. And then one of the best parts of coming up north... opening the back door and looking through the house to the dock, the boats and the lake. Did I also mention that up north has a certain smell? Outside it is fresh and cool, with hints of campfire smoke in the evenings. Our cottage has a certain smell, too. It is a familiar smell, and I love it. It maybe the wood walls, or the cleaner my grandmother uses, but whatever it is, it is part of what makes me smile when I open the door for the first time. I LOVE up north. :-) So anyway, Ryan and I came up this weekend, and enjoyed a very relaxing, surprisingly sunny day (the weather forecast called for rain all day!) today - and have decided to stay longer tomorrow before heading back to reality. Here are some pictures of our early May visit to Charlevoix. :-)


The cottage (can't wait until there are more people - and beach towels drying on every available railing! :-))


The dock - hooray! It is in before Memorial Day! (Thanks, mom and dad - this means more time to play in a few weeks :-))

The empty shopper's docks...can't wait to get out on the boat!

Ryan at the harbor - the boats are starting to come in!

The new landscaping, waterfalls and fountains in Charlevoix by Round Lake


The Landing - our FAVORITE place to eat on the water

Hanging out in the car on the ferry back to the cottage

Two happy people on vacation - with no one to take a picture! :-)

No alarms, breakfast at 10, reading in the sun...

In other words - spring break. :-)

One of the many fun aspects of being a teacher is still enjoying a week off in April every year. I do have to attest that both the students and teachers are able to come back refreshed and ready to go after a little time off.

I only set my alarm once during break (which is unheard of for me!), I enjoyed the rare treat of running when the sun was up, and I actually had time to make a decent breakfast and indulged myself in LOTS of fresh fruit this week. If only every morning could be relaxed until 10am!

On Wednesday night, Ryan and I went for a bike ride - outside! This was Ryan's first ride on his new bicycle out on the actual roads. He had ridden 4 or 5 times on the trainer for indoor workouts with me at VCC, and for anyone who has ridden on a trainer - you know how old it can get! So we bundled up, put our helmets on, and headed out. I think the first words out of Ryan's mouth were, "Wow, this is awesome." Music to my ears! His bike has a carbon fiber frame, and it provides for a very smooth ride. Ryan was fairly cautious during the ride, being in clipless pedals for the first time can be a little scary, but he did really well. I do have to admit - he did tip over once at a stop sign, but it was into grass, and he got right up and kept going. Go, Ry, go! So I can't wait to continue to ride more with him, and have him be more comfortable on his fast bike.

Oh, did I mention that during this break I finished ALL the grad work for my two classes I have this semester?! By Tuesday night I was done with everything! It meant the rest of the week was mine to enjoy! What a nice feeling that is. I spent one day at school too, getting stuff organized, cleaned, and ready for next week, so this weekend will be very relaxing.

So that was my week. Even though I didn't go anywhere warm, or have a beautiful white beach to lay on, it was a good break, and I feel I can breath a sigh of relief as life feels organized for a bit. Although not for long. Next goals in the Slagh household? Get this house ready to SELL!! We are already starting the process of "purging" this place of things we do not need, do not use, do not wear...and will be starting little fix up projects as soon as Ryan is done with his graduate work for this semester. My hope? By June we have the house on the market...any takers? :-)

And last, but certainly not least - Happy Easter, Everyone!!

A weekend that started on a high note....but ended awful!

What a weekend!

On Friday, I had a very exciting morning. My mom and grandma came to my classroom, and were the "Mystery Readers" for the morning. This goes along with a month-long celebration for March is Reading month. Each day I have mystery readers (moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas, etc.) come in and read a story to the students. On Friday, mom and Grandma Betty came with special treats for the kids, and they each took turns reading a story. Mom also brought some pictures along, which I think the students got a kick out of - they now know what I looked like as a little kid! Here is a picture of my mom reading, "Splat the Cat" to the class.

After the kids got on the bus, we went to New Holland Brewery for lunch, and had some good food, and great conversation!! It was very fun to have them in my classroom, and to visit afterwards.

Saturday started out as usual, a run followed by an indoor ride on the bike. Ryan came for the indoor ride - this was his 4th ride. We can't wait to go for a ride outside together!! It will be a lot more fun, than just being stuck on a trainer, watching Coach Troy videos. :)

Saturday afternoon, I started to feel kinda tired, and had a headache, but I ignored it because I was excited for a night out with friends that had been planned for weeks! Ryan and I went to the Melting Pot with Scott and Sarah, Haley and Brian, and Erin and Joe. It was quite the eating experience - we had reservations for 7, and didn't leave until after 10!! We did the "Big Night Out", which was 4 courses - a cheese fondue, a salad, an entree with different cooking styles, and chocolate fondue for dessert. My favorite course had to be the dessert course. We had amazing chocolate fondues...one was chocolate with cookies pieces and marshmallows, and the other was a chocolate peanut butter pot. They gave us fruit, rice krispy treats, marshmallows, cheesecake bites, and brownie bites. Y-u-m!!

After we got home from dinner, it all went downhill. My headache that I had in the afternoon, and through dinner was only getting worse. I woke up Sunday morning feeling TERRIBLE. I have never had a migraine, but I can only imagine that what I was feeling was at least as bad as a migraine. Pair that with the body aches and fever, it didn't take long to realize that I got the flu. I can only guess that all the sneezing, coughing, nose running, germ filled classroom exposure somehow contributed to my getting the flu. Yuck. I felt awful, and decided Sunday night to take Monday off of work. I have never felt so terrible, and will definitely plan on getting the flu shot next year! Cross your fingers that Ryan stays healthy!!

Gotta include Mutts... :-)

Ahhh... I love Mutts comics. With March coming in like a 'lion', I never know what my morning run will be like. This past week I ran in steady rain one morning, 25 mph winds with 40 mph gusts the next morning, and single digit wind chills the next. I have to check the weather every night because I never know what to expect or how to dress!!

So here is my comic to represent my feelings about winter at this point....

And - these past two week seemed very busy. Parent-teacher conferences last week (went great), grad assignments or tests (for both Ryan and I), and I had something planned every single night this week!

So here is my comic to represent what I wish I was doing more sometimes... (I am looking forward to spring break!!)

A new member of the family...

Arg...is it the middle of March already? I had a goal of updating the blog once every week. So far, I have not quite met that goal!

So here is the exciting news of the week - we bought Ryan a bike this week! We had looked at bikes last fall, but when we saw the 2009 Cannondale bicycles, there were some very cool options that we decided to hold out for. After waiting more than a few months (had to make sure the jobs were secure before diving into this purchase), we decided to go ahead and take the plunge! So on Tuesday we went into Velo City, with a bicycle in mind. It was the Cannondale Synapse Carbon 6 - vivid blue/lightening white - very cool looking bike. We got Ryan all measured to figure out what size bike would fit him best.

After looking at the sizing options, MC (Mike Clark - Holland bike guru, shop owner, summer tandem buddy), had an idea for our purchase. There was a 2008 Synapse with MUCH better components (ultegra versus sora on the 2009), very cool paint job, and a proposed sticker price that was such a deal, we decided we couldn't pass it up. So here is a picture of Ryan's new bike. His looks a little different with different wheels, handlebar tape, and saddle, but essentially is still the same thing. It is a Synapse Liquigas Team replica bike. It looks great next to my bike, and is an exciting addition to our family!

Ryan came with me and rode at the indoor ride on Wednesday night. He did very well!! It was good practice for clipping in and out of the pedals, and starting the process of getting the bum used to a skinny saddle! :-)

So bring on the warm weather - we want to get out and RIDE!! :-)

Ultimate Cycling Challenge

Whew!!

Today I participated in the Ultimate Cycling Challenge - an event that raises funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. It is a 24 hour cycling "relay". People form teams, they raise money, and then each team works to keep a stationary bike in motion for 24 hours. It is an amazing event to be a part of, there is huge community support, and lots of inspiring stories of people who have been affected by cancer.

I rode last year for 4 hours total, but decided I wanted to put a few more hours in this time around. I rode three shifts between Team Valeo (Jess's personal training team), and Team Velo Citizens (the Velo City Cycles staff team) for a total of 6 1/2 hours on the trainer! The first 3-hour shift went by pretty quickly, but the second and third shifts went consecutively slower and slower. I think that it was the slight discomfort from sitting on the saddle for so many hours, as well as just overall being exhausted as time went on!

Despite feeling tired and a little saddle sore, I really enjoyed being a part of something that supports cancer research. My grandpa was diagnosed with cancer about a month ago, and my other grandpa passed away when I was in high school from colon cancer. A woman in our small group also has a son who has leukemia. It affects 1 in 3 people, which is a scary statistic!

Here are some pictures from the event.







Here is a link to a video that was shown every 2 hours during the event. It outlines the Lance Armstrong Foundation manifesto. Pretty powerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SDBOHpKI6g

Valentine's Day

Another Valentine's Day come and gone! This was the fourth V-Day that Ry and I have spent together, and we went to 84 East for the 4th year in a row. :)

I had to go to grad class in the morning (although it was in good company - thanks for driving Hale!) :) And after a good hour nap - I was good to go for a nice V-Day evening with Ry. We agreed to not do gifts for each other, but we each ended up getting something little. He had a little surprise in the bedroom - not only was the bed made, but there was a lovely shape of a heart made out of Reese's Hearts candy! Awww...it was very sweet of him. I also surprised Ry with a little treat - some vanilla custard from Culver's. He was quite excited. After dinner out, and a grocery trip and a stop at Blockbuster, we watched a movie on the couch. It was perfect. :) Love you, Ry!