Christmas

This post is well overdue, but I did want to write a bit about Christmas before too much of this new year goes by! Since Mark's family moved to Missouri early in 2016, we decided to visit them for their first Christmas in their new house, which meant that this Christmas was also the first time we didn't go home to ABQ or see my family. It was pretty strange not to be in ABQ at all, but we also had a lovely time in Springfield.

Before leaving BG, we arranged to video chat with my parents, grandma, and sister to open our gifts, which were so generous! Mark and I have never had a tree at our house with so many presents under it! (I wrapped everything in the Amazon boxes most of it arrived in, so that I wouldn't spoil any surprises; it took up more space that way, so this pile of presents isn't quite as huge as it looks).

In Springfield, we got to see Mark's parents and siblings as well as our niece and nephew (oh, and the two dogs--Buddy and the newest addition to the family, Cody). I didn't do a very good job of taking pictures (and I didn't manage to get copies of anyone else's, either). But we basically all had a good time hanging out and enjoying each other's company. There were delicious meals and holiday goodies, many games of pool and ping pong in the basement, some movies (I saw both Arrival and Rogue One), and, of course, lots of catching up.

There were two specific outings I did manage to get pictures of: Mom treated Katie and me to tea at this adorable tea house downtown. You can see the decorations are totally over the top, and the food was very tasty. I liked the mis-matched china they used for the place settings, and Mom bought me a lovely gray shawl in the gift shop for Christmas.

We also stopped at the Bass Pro Shop, which is special because Springfield, MO is the original location. We have one in the Toledo area, but this one was really over-the-top, plus there were extra decorations out for Christmas. It was also totally packed, so I actually hope to go back again another time to enjoy the atmosphere when it's less crowded. It's kind of like retail store meets theme park meets zoo meets museum. Really weird and fun. Katie indulged me by taking a few pics.

And I did manage to get a couple of pictures of people hanging out together. Here's Mark showing Zach how to record stuff using Mark's fancy new microphones/camera and the audio interface Mark gave Zach for Christmas. Below, Dad and Hannah are checking out specimens using Dad's new microscope.

Since it's been almost a month now, I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting, but we sure did have a great visit. Oh, and the 11ish hour drive was mostly uneventful, though it did snow the last hour on our way home, Mark did a great job getting us back safely. (It's so weird driving through snow at night on the highway--it makes me think of the special effects in sci-fi movies/tv when they go to light/warp speed. :-)

Anyway, it's always great to see family, and we're glad that Mark's parents seem settled in their new house and in Springfield in general.

Miscellaneous Updates

Since  my last post, the weeks have flown by! We enjoyed another lovely Thanksgiving in Grand Rapids, Michigan with Mark's aunt, uncle, and cousins. This year, all the cousins who live in the area joined us for the Thanksgiving meal, so we had a lively day full of family and food, with lots of little ones playing underfoot. One family who usually comes down from up north in Michigan had a brand new baby, so they didn't join us this year. Still, we had a great time catching up with everyone else. Aunt Debbe Jo and I also continued our tradition of making Christmas wreaths with various greenery from their yard.

We came back to BG on Friday, and after unpacking and having some takeout for dinner, Mark and I went ahead and put up our Christmas decorations. Since then, I've really enjoyed the festive atmosphere around here. We've been watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music...it's been refreshing to soak up all the hope and joy of the season. It's also been fun having some packages arrive and wrapping them to put under the tree. We've never had so many presents at our house!

It's also been a bit hectic wrapping up the fall semester. After Thanksgiving, we had two weeks of classes, then finals week. I think I've never been quite so busy at the end as I was this year, but everything that had to get done did get done. I really enjoyed the semester despite feeling a bit harried all the time; my administrative job has been a positive challenge, and my students this semester were excellent. I'm pleased to say that I got all my grades posted  yesterday, so I'm officially done with Fall 2016! In the past, we used to have our final assignments (papers, presentations, quizzes, etc.) due during the last week of classes, but now we are required to use our scheduled final exam time. This is probably a good policy change, but it does mean that I wasn't able to get nearly as much planning for the spring semester done as what I'm used to, so I'm feeling a bit behind. On the plus side, I'm really looking forward to my schedule for the spring. I'm teaching a graduate level class in the TESOL certificate program for the first time (Theories & Methods of TESOL), which is a huge undertaking, but I'm excited about it! I have a lot of reading to do over break to make sure I'll be able to stay a step or two ahead of my students, but I should enjoy it.

In the midst of all that work stuff, there's been plenty of holiday celebrating, too. I organized a trip with some colleagues down to the Swan House in Findlay, my first proper tea since they reopened. It was lovely!

There was also an end of semester English and GSW department gathering and a Christmas party at some friends' house last night. Last weekend, we had our first big snow of the season; about 5-6 inches (which may be more than we got at any one time all last season). At the moment, unfortunately, we're getting very cold rain, mixing with snow. Thankfully, we've been able to stay in today. It'll be interesting to see what kind of winter we're in for this year!

Swimming & Diving Meet

On Friday night, I finally made it to a Swimming and Diving meet. Mark and I had been wanting to check one out for a while, but between their schedule and ours, we hadn't been able to make it. Mark's at PASIC, so he still hasn't, but I'm glad I went. One of my current students is on the diving team, and she got first place in the 3 meter diving and second in 1 meter! Our mascots, Freddie and Freida, were there, too, and sat right by me for a few events. I'm terrible at taking good pictures at athletic events, but here are a few anyway to give you an idea:

A Visit from Mom and Dad Cook

Last week, we enjoyed a visit from Mark's parents, who were in town from late Sunday afternoon till Thursday morning. We spent some time hanging out at our place, catching up on everything that's been going on lately, playing cards, etc. We also did some shopping, ate at a few restaurants around the area, and went to see the new Jack Reacher movie. The days went by really fast, especially since I was working, too, but it was really great to have Mom and Dad here. Here are a few pics:

I finally made these fancy caramel apples again.
They are SO good! 

Mom & I enjoyed lunch at the Swan House Tea Room.

We also stopped at Dietsch's Chocolate in Findlay (not pictured)
and this antique mall, which I'd not yet been to. 

The fall view from my office--everyone met
me on campus for lunch on Wednesday. 

More Fall in NW Ohio

Here are some of our adventures from the last few weeks.

Mark's been keeping very busy with marching band at Wauseon High School. One Saturday, they had a competition in Columbus, and he had a performance of Legally Blonde the Musical in Defiance that same night. I decided to be his chauffeur and keep him company on the drive for the band competition, so I got to hang out with the pit and see the show from down on the field.

Another weekend, we finally went up to explore the Oak Openings Metropark in Toledo, possibly the largest park in our area. We took a picnic lunch which we ate in between the two trails we explored. I'd been to this park a couple summers ago with some friends, but it was Mark's first visit. I think we'll go back--there's a lot more to explore in this area, and it's only about a 30-35 minute drive.

(This isn't what Mark was going for, but he was holding
the camera up high and couldn't see the screen.
I kind of like how it turned out; it makes me laugh :-)

And here's the empty lot on the corner across from our apartment complex. I think the variety of little trees really shows off our beautiful fall colors.