New website

Please visit us at our new website. Here you will find photo albums, read a little about us, view a blog, and much more!

www.TheNoormanFamily.com

It's Been a While...

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged, and I apologize for that. Things have been very crazy around here these last couple of weeks. As I mentioned in my last blog, we had a pretty big change take place about a week and a half ago. Lisa is no longer at Hillsboro School, which is a thirty-minute drive away from our house. She got a transfer to Chapman's Retreat Elementary School, which is a little over two miles from our house. It seems that the two principals are arguing over her right now, and while she's stuck in the middle of their little sparring match, I suppose the silver lining is, one could look at it as a nice ego boost that your new and former bosses are fighting for you. The change is nice, not only because it's almost an hour's difference in driving each day, but that is the elementary school where our children will be attending (no, none yet). So please pray for Lisa during this transition. She's going to be awesome!

I wanted to plug a band here, which I have never done before. The drummer for this band is the husband of a friend at school (one of our new teachers), and their sound is fantastic. The name of the band is SafetySuit, and you can check out their webpage at www.safetysuitmusic.com. You can also watch their first video (this first single is getting some great airtime all over the country) by going to the following address: http://video2.umrg.com/safetysuit/default.aspx?vid=01. The links I've tried to put in here aren't working, so I've added links to the side under our favorites. You can guy their CD in stores, or on iTunes. Please check them out.

I have been very busy working hard to lose weight. It's not a resolution of mine or anything, it's just something that I've really needed to do. I'll give you updates on how that's going once in a while, and here's the first. I haven't been doing anything out of the ordinary, just exercising and watching what I eat (smaller portions). The Wii has helped immensely, and I honestly don't think I'd be losing what I am if not for the Wii Fit, which is like a home gym in a video game. There's yoga, strength training, aerobic training, and even some games on it. Anyway, since I started doing all of those things regularly about two months ago, I've lost fifteen pounds, which brings my weight loss to twenty-four pounds since we moved to Tennessee. I'm pretty proud of myself, but Wii still tells me I'm obese, so I have to keep working! I'm working toward a goal of moving down to the next level below "obese," and that's "overweight." I'm really looking forward to being overweight! :-)

Please pray for Lisa's brother, Ron, as he closes on his first house next Tuesday. Having just gone through this eight months ago, I know how stressful it can be, as do many of you!

Travis' girlfriend Amy's birthday was earlier this week, so be sure to call or e-mail her and wish her a happy birthday! She's a special person, what with having to put up with Travis and all. Happy birthday, Amy!

You know when you go on vacation, and you've always got this feeling that you've forgotten something? That's how I feel right now, because I was going to write more, and I know I had more to say, but I can't remember what it was now! Anyway, we hope that you're all happy and healthy, and enjoying the beautiful weather and blessings you're getting! We love you all.

End of Week 1

Today was the last day of the first week of school, and man, are we tired! Middle schoolers can sure take a lot out of you! I have three classes full of awesome sixth graders, and Lisa's quite busy with her eighth graders.

I created a new video, this one of Grace opening a present. You can view it on the sidebar; it's really cute.

There's nothing new going on, nothing other than a restful weekend where we plan on doing nothing but Lisa going to her master's class tomorrow. I'm currently watching the Tigers lose to the Orioles, and they are just so horrible right now. I'm not really feeling very positive about the Tigers chances of making the playoffs, but stranger things have happened.

We hope that all of our friends and family have a restful weekend as well. Enjoy the beautiful weather that you're hopefully getting. We're praying for you all, and we love you.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of the 2008-2009 school year, and it went well for us both. We had a half-day, so that made it even better. We're not yet used to getting up that much earlier after sleeping in all summer, but that'll come along.

I'm teaching language arts this year, which I believe I wrote before, but I'm just so happy to be doing so, I had to write it again! I taught math last year, but my degree is in Language & Literature, so this is right up my alley. Language Arts is double-blocked in our school this year, so we'll have 105 minutes with the kids, which is what we'll need to cover everything we have to cover. The great thing is, the language arts classes are very small (18-20 students), so we'll be able to do a lot with those small classes. Our sixth grade are a great group of kids, and we have a number of new teachers at our school who all seem great, so I really think it's going to be a great year. Lisa moved up from seventh grade to eighth grade at her school, so she could stay with her students that she had last year. They hired two new special education teachers, and they are both really nice, according to Lisa.

We had our first garage sale over the last two Saturdays, and did pretty well. We cleared out a lot of stuff and made some good money, and took the rest of what didn't sell out to Goodwill. I'll blog more about our plans with that money, since that's a whole separate - and huge - story.

I'm sorry we haven't blogged much over the last few weeks. There's not a lot new going on, so I suppose I could have blogged and told you all that. Everything's going well, though. We had our hottest day of the year last week, where it hit a little over 100 degrees. It's cooled off considerably, though, so now it's comfortable.

That's about all that's new on this front. We hope all of our friends are doing well, and we thank you for your continued prayers. We love you all!

Our Vacation

We had an awesome time in Canada and in Michigan on vacation, and we're home safely. Canada was very relaxing, as always, and we got to go to a couple of Tigers' games while we were there. My brother, Travis, and his girlfriend, Amy, drove out on Sunday morning to go to the game with us. It ended up being a very special event, as it marked the first victory by any Detroit teams that Travis has seen live. It was a very special moment, as you can see by the look of elation that graced Travis' face in the picture below; I'm so happy for him.


















As relaxing and beautiful as our trip was, it sure was nice to get home. Our grass was really long, because apparently it had rained a lot in our absence (I've since mowed it). And now, since we've gotten home, it hasn't rained at all. It's supposed to rain at night the next couple of days, but our weathermen aren't very reliable (whose are?). It's supposed to be in the high 90s all week long with high humidity, so we've been running the air conditioning a lot. I'm curious what our next electric bill will look like.


Our first day of school is three weeks from today. The summer has sure gone quickly, it seems. It's been even shorter for Lisa, since she had class every day in June. She's now got just weekend classes until her program concludes next May. We're looking forward to enjoying our last three weeks of summer vacation. I just hope it cools down at least a little bit for us. We'll probably go to the new rec center's pool at least a couple of days and work a little more on our tans. :-)


The Tigers are puttin' a hurtin' on Kansas City right now, and the White Sox and Twins are both losing, so hopefully all of those things stay true and the Tigers gain another game on the Sox. I'm going to go back to enjoying that now. I've made a slideshow of our vacation so you can enjoy what we were blessed to enjoy. It's off to the side on this page so you can view it. We love you all.

Oh, Canada!

We're off to Canada for vacation tomorrow morning. I'm thinking it's going to be about 14 hours total, so please pray for our safe travel along the way. Grace loves car rides, so she's usually a pretty good traveler. We've got Gertie (our GPS), the iPod, and snacks, so we're good to go! Thanks for your prayers.

The Tigers won tonight, and gained another game on the White Sox (who lost), so hopefully that trend keeps up and we'll be in first place when we get back from Canada! We're going to see the Tigers on the 12th and 13th against the Twins, who are in second place, so we're really looking forward to that. More than anything, I'm looking forward to seeing my brother, Travis, and his girlfriend, Amy. This will be the first time we meet Amy, and even though she's gotten off on the wrong foot with me (she sent me U of M flair...she'll learn), she seems really nice and we're looking forward to meeting her.

We've been taking pictures of the house, but I've been bad about getting them on here for all of you friends and family to see it, but I'll work on that when we get home.

We will be able to check e-mail very sporadically in Canada, but won't get cell phone service, so if you need to reach us, please e-mail us.

I'll leave you with what I think is a pretty funny picture. It was taken at the West Michigan Grand Prix, when it existed. I found it in a pile of pictures a couple of weeks ago. It's my brother, Travis, and his first love. We love you all!

Friday in Spring Hill

Today was Lisa's last day of summer classes for her master's program, so we're very excited to start actually spending the day together. We'll going to celebrate tonight by making pizza and watching the Tigers. I know, we go all-out in our celebrations!

I don't remember if I wrote this already or not, but our fence is finally done, and we're very happy with it. Grace especially enjoys being able to go outside and spending some time alone out there. A couple of times, she's just gone out and sat in the middle of the backyard and enjoyed the breeze, which is really cute. One of my projects next week will be to seal it, so that should be fun (note sarcasm).

As many of you know (and some of you may not), we've been trying to have a baby for a couple of years now, and of course, that blessing just hasn't happened yet. We've been seeing a fertility specialist, and have both gone through some testing to see what the problem is, if there is one. Lisa had some surgery last week and we'll now be waiting until the middle of July until our meeting with the doctor to find out the diagnosis and the "plan of action" for getting pregnant. Our meeting is on July 15, and we could sure use all of your prayers as we go through this. We'll keep you all updated on how that's progressing as things happen.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words I've received concerning the video. It means a lot to me that so many have seen it and have been able to share in remembering one of the greatest men I've ever known.

I'm off to Lowe's, currently my favorite store in the world, to get some things for the backyard. I'm working on a project out back and hopefully it turns out as well in real-life that is does in my mind. If you're really quiet, you can hear Dad: "measure twice, cut once."

We love you all!

My Project

Okay, it's done. My project was a video project I was doing in a tribute to Dad. It's posted on YouTube, and on here, so you can view it. The song I chose to go along with the pictures is very important, so make sure your speakers are turned up. If you're reading this, and you knew Dad, you will need some tissue...that's your warning. Please leave comments if you would like.

Breakfast with Grace

Okay, so I like to blog about random things sometimes. This is one of those times. Lisa's at class right now, and Grace and I wanted something to eat for breakfast. Well, we decided to make it a brunch, and make french toast! I don't think I've made french toast since Lisa and I have been together, and I actually had to bust out The Joy of Cooking to make it. But it's made, it's eaten, and I impressed myself! So...yay me!

Doesn't it just look delicious?

Prayer Requests

Here are a couple of prayer requests we hope you will consider.

Many of you know Mike Hull. He is a very good friend of mine, and he stood up for me in our wedding. Mike's sister, Sara, had a baby boy, Zephan, not too long ago, and he was born with some complications, and we almost lost both Zephan and Sara during birth. Mike was down visiting about a month ago, and he said that despite this, they were both doing much better. A couple of weeks ago, Zephan went in for surgery on his heart and we lost Zephan in the operating room. I cannot even find the words to express how profoundly saddened I am by this, and I cannot imagine the pain that Sara and Max are feeling right now. All we can do is pray that God comforts them and everyone in the family during this unbelievably difficult time, and be there for them in any way we can.

Many of you also know (though probably not personally) Steven Curtis Chapman. Most of you reading this have probably already heard that they lost their youngest daughter, 5-year-old Maria Sue, when she was hit by a car in their driveway about a month ago. Maria was one of three of the Chapman's adopted daughters from China, and was a little cutie. To add tragedy to tragedy, it was one of the Chapman sons who ran little Maria over. As I said above, I can't imagine losing a child, and now the Chapmans also have to help their son through this as well. It's going to be a tough go for them all, so please pray for the family, and especially for Will to get through this. I don't know the Chapmans personally, but it's been Steven's music that has gotten me through some of the hardest times in my life. Please keep them all in your prayers.

On a much, much, much lighter note, my friend Tara and her husband are in the process of potty-training their son, Jonathan. Those of you who are parents, I know you're hitting your knees before you even finish reading! Good luck to the Griffins! :-)

Things are well here in Tennessee. The fence is finally getting built, and should be done by mid-week, and we're really excited about that (as is Grace). The weather's been crazy hot and humid, but it's supposed to dip into the mid-80's this week, so we're thankful for that...and for air conditioning!

Thank you for your continued prayers for us, and for your prayers for our requests. We love you all!

Slow and Humid in Spring Hill

Hey, everyone. There's not a lot going on this week. Lisa's folks drove down for a week's vacation, and they're taking off tomorrow morning. Please keep them in your prayers for safe travel.

It's pretty humid today, but that's something we've got to get used to in Tennessee. It's not completely unbearable, but difficult to do a whole lot during the day that doesn't involve being near a body of water.

I went to a friend's place on Wednesday to watch the Red Wings and the Pistons...they both lost. Game 6 for the Pistons versus the Celtics should be a great game from Detroit. I'm really looking forward to that game. The Penguins finally scored on us in beating us Wednesday, with Sidney Crosby scoring two goals...just what I didn't want. For those of you unfamiliar with "Sid the Kid," he's talked about by everyone as the NHL's savior, the "Michael Jordan of hockey," if you will. It's pretty sickening to hear his name more than the Red Wings team, despite the fact that the Wings shut them out the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final (why isn't it "Finals" anymore?). Anyway, I'm confident the Wings are still going to win the Stanley Cup. So...GO WINGS, and GO PISTONS! Hopefully, the Tigers get things going soon, too!

I got some pictures of Dad from Mom and from Janet, so thank you, ladies. I'd like to get my project finished so I can post it by June 9, so please get them in the mail as soon as possible if you'd like to share more!

June is going to stink for Lisa, as she has class from 9 to 5 every day at Lipscomb, so pray for her during those blah, blah, blah times. :-)

Love you all!

HMS Pranksters

School's out! Yesterday was our last day of the 2007-2008 school year, and it ended with me being the recipient of not one, but two pranks. My colleagues are great, and I feel so loved! (I really do) If I find out who got me, I'm sure my friend Michael will help me plot against them.

So here's what happened. The sixth grade went to Thompson's Station Park for a field trip. While we were gone, my desk and many other items from my classroom found their way down to the men's faculty restroom. When we got back from our field trip, my friend Kim showed me an e-mail, including pictures, that was sent out to everyone, talking about "Mr. Noorman being so important that he got a new office." We opened the pictures, and found the following, and Kim said my jaw just dropped.

Michael and I went down to the restroom and just laughed our heads off for a few minutes, then Michael pulled out his camera and had me get to work in my new office (he just happened to have his camera with him...I think he and I need to talk!).

So, that was a fun day. Then the next day, the last day of school, it was time for lunch, and I was going back to our house for lunch. Michael was being a good pal and waiting for me so we could walk out together. (Hmm...I believe I should think long and hard about this friendship!) I walked outside, and no one had left yet, though there were about 15 people out there (including our principal and one of our assistant principals). I talked to a couple of people for a few seconds, then turned around to walk to my car. I started laughing when I saw that someone's car had been entirely Saran-wrapped! I turned around to share in the laughter at some poor fool's misfortune, when it hit me suddenly that it was MY car!!! People were still asking me how my car was today at school.

I love my job, and I love my colleagues. I'm truly blessed to be teaching at Heritage Middle and working with such fabulous people...even the pranksters.

Project

This is a copy of a letter I've sent to a few people. I just wanted to place it on here as well, in case I missed anyone.

I’ve been wanting to do a little project in memory of Dad for a while now, but between moving, teaching, and everything else that is life, I’ve had little time to work on it. Summer break is only 13½ days (yes, I’m counting!) away, and we finally don’t have any big plans this summer, so I can work on it…but I need your help.

I need bunches and bunches of pictures of Dad. They can be any kind of pictures: family pictures, pictures when he was younger, etc. Any pictures you could share will be quite welcome.

If you have digital pictures you’d like to share, then if you could just burn them onto a CD and send it, that would be fine. I know most of the pictures won’t be digital, and that’s fine, too. We have a scanner, so you can simply send the pictures and I’ll scan them into my computer. I know the pictures that you send may be very precious to you, as are our pictures, so the day I receive them, I will send them back to you that same day after I scan them.

The more pictures I have to choose from, the better (I hope) this project will be, so I hope to hear from many of you soon. When the project is finished, you will be able to view it through our blog.

Please send the pictures to our home. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me or call me. E-mail me for contact information. I’d like to get this project started by May 20, so whatever pictures I have by then (hopefully, I’ll have a lot!) are what I’ll be using.

Congratulations, Lisa!

Lisa is working on her masters degree at Lipscomb University. It is a grueling program in which she'll complete 32 credit hours in just over a year. The first semester of the program has finished, and Lisa has complete 9 of those credit hours. Her grades were mailed here the other day, and she earned all A's for each of those those hours! I'm so proud of Lisa and the awesome things she's doing with her kids over at Hillsboro. Way to go, honey!

School's Out! (well...almost)

15 and one-half days remain in the 2007-2008 school year! The kids are quite restless, as you can imagine, and their teachers are as anxious as they are for summer to begin! It's going to be a crazy three weeks, so please be praying for Lisa and me.

We're still waiting on word from our Homeowners' Association on whether or not we can build our privacy fence where we want to. I wasn't aware of some of the restrictions the first time I put in our application for approval. This time, I got a little better educated and designed the fence to meet all the specifications, so it shouldn't be a problem now.

My principal asked me to teach language arts next year. I emphatically told her yes! I taught math and social studies this year, and though I liked it very much, I've always loved language arts (my degree is in language and literature). I am really looking forward to the change next year!

A new recreation center opened in Spring Hill about three weeks ago. It's unbelievably cool, and I frequent it often. For the last two weeks, I've been getting up early to go work out before school, and it's been very energizing. I haven't lost as much weight as I'd like to yet, but I'm getting there, and feeling a lot better. I hadn't played racquetball in ten years, but that was one of my favorite forms of exercise in college, so I'm really happy I've gotten back into that! Lisa and I are also walking every night with Grace, so that's more exercise for us all. Go fitness!

I encouraged my friend Kim to buy the Nike Sport Kit, so we've created a challenge against each other to see who can walk the most miles in 30 days. Nike keeps track of the challenge online automatically, so that's super-cool. Stupid me, though, I started the challenge a day before she walked 13 miles in the Country Music Marathon in Nashville, so I have some catching up to do.

It looks like we've got great weather ahead of us in both Tennessee and Michigan, so enjoy the sunshine, warmth, and Tigers baseball! We love you all!

TCAP Time in Tennessee!

Woo-hoo! It's TCAP time in Tennessee, and Lisa are I and all of our teaching colleagues are unbelievably excited! Please note the sarcasm. TCAP is like the MEAP in Michigan, and most teachers generally agree that this time of the year is one of the worst, and a time we don't look forward to. It's usually a very draining week, and I always feel bad for making kids take so many meaningless tests (yes, meaningless, unless you're a politician or a realtor) in the span of a week. Anyway, please be praying for me, Lisa, our teaching friends, and especially for the kids who will be testing every day next week.

Things are slowing down and getting relaxing here. We've got all of our furniture, and are now just arguing with the HOA over our privacy fence, a battle I'm pretty certain we'll win. Other than that, it's smooth sailing down here in the South. Grace loves the backyard, and we try to get her out and play soccer every chance we can. She's into eating the grass right now, and she usually doesn't feel too great after doing that, so time in the backyard isn't for too long. I mowed the lawn over the weekend, not paying attention to the 70-degree weather, and got sunburned. It wasn't that bad, just enough to remind me to wear sunscreen when I mow again tomorrow.

I'm catching all sorts of grief from my friends for the Tigers' 0-7 start. Come on, boys, do something, please! Lisa and I are going to veg in front of the TV and watch the Tigers and Red Sox in HD tonight, so hopefully Bonderman will have a good game for us, and we finally start hitting!

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but I'm tired, so I'm going to cut this one short. Stay tuned for more, and thank you all for your continued prayers. We love you all.

Sorry for the Delay

So sorry for the length of time between our last post and this one. It's been pretty busy here, what with settling into our new house, getting over our sicknesses, and preparing our students for Spring Break, which is thankfully upon us now (the kids were going nuts!). Thank you all for your prayers for our well-being, and your notes of concern over not having updated this lately. We're fine!

As I mentioned above, we're getting over our sicknesses. The flus and colds are finally gone, leaving behind only nagging coughing. Now the sinuses and allergies are kicking in, and they're not being very nice to us, either, but we're getting through. Spring Break came at just the right time, and now we have a week and a half to recuperate and just relax.

The settling into our new house is coming along, and will take some giant strides forward over the next week. Our bedroom suite and den sofa will be arriving on Thursday morning (actually, "between 10 and 3"), and our living room furniture will be arriving next Tuesday. We're very excited about all of this, because we can finally have guests over and do some entertaining in the living room downstairs. I know that many of you will not be able to make it down in the near future to visit and check out our new home, so I have a plan. When all the furniture is in, and we're finally settled, I'm going to shoot some video and pictures and make a short movie, introducing you to our new home. I'll post it on YouTube and send the video via e-mail to a few of you. I hope this will suffice until you're able to make it down and celebrate our new home with us.

We bought a gazebo from Kohl's last night to put on the patio out back, and it looked fantastic...until we woke up this morning. We've had some crazy strong winds today, and when we woke up this morning, the wind had blown the gazebo over, bending the poles and making it look really cruddy. Needless to say, we took it back to Kohl's, and decided we'll do something else back there on the patio. Speaking of Kohl's, you guys can thank us for the great Grand Opening sales that are happening all over America! Our new SuperTarget (we'll rarely visit the traditional supermarket again!) and Kohl's opened up a couple of weeks ago, along with the Cracker Barrel and Logan's Roadhouse. A boatload of new stores are opening up within the year, and we're really excited about not having to drive north to Franklin to do our shopping. It's very nice, if we need something, to drive 10 minutes down the road, get what we need, and come right back home.

A couple of our family members are traveling on vacation this week and next, and we'd like to ask for your prayers for their safe travel. My brother, Travis, is currently in Florida with some friends on vacation. Please pray for their safety while they're on the road and while they're doing whatever they're doing in Panama City. Also, Lisa's brother, Ron, is coming down to visit next week, and we're very excited about that. We're going to show him around, go to Nashville to catch a Predators' game (NHL hockey), and just hang out. Please pray for his safe travel over the next week.

The final presidential debate is taking place in October down here at Belmont University in Nashville. If anyone knows how I could go about getting into this event, let me know; it's going to be an awesome race!

That's about all that's new down here in Tennessee. We both hope that everyone is doing well, and staying healthy and warm! We love you all!

Sick Stinks

As I write, Lisa and I are both pretty much on our death beds (don't freak out; I'm being melodramatic). I started showing symptoms of the flu on Tuesday night, and have had to get a sub for the last two days. I'm still not entirely well, but am feeling better than I have been. Unfortunately, thanks to me, Lisa's flu has just begun. So, we get to baby each other as much as our aching bodies will allow us to. Please pray for our wellness.

I'm working on our taxes right now, and I just discovered that all of our moving expenses (UHaul, boxes, lodging, mileage, movers) are deductible, so we're looking at a very nice tax season. That's good, since we're also finding that a house costs so much more than the price that you paid for the actual structure. I met with a guy last week about building a privacy fence around the backyard, and while pricy, it's necessary. I purchased my first building permit (for the fence) this week, so I'm feeling even more grown up now!

It's now official: we're Tennesseans! I had a mental checklist for that goal, which consisted of 1) buying a house, 2) getting jobs, 3) getting driver licenses, and 4) getting registration and plates for our cars. We got our new plates on Monday, and all the other criteria had already been met, so we're officially southerners. Yay!

Mom's on Facebook! I'm not sure she knows what to do with it now, but she's there (proud of ya, Mom)! My mom's so twenty-first century, isn't she? If you're on Facebook, look her up, and maybe she'll be your friend.

Tanya sent me and Lisa a video of Steve, Steven, and Sarah for Valentine's Day that was so cute. Steven didn't seem really thrilled with doing it, but what two-year-old would be? Thanks, Sis!

Things are getting back to normal here in Tennessee as far as the weather goes. People are picking up their lives from the tornadoes and attempting to move on. Please continue to pray for all of these people who lost so much.

I can't think of much more at the moment other than going upstairs and taking a nap. To our friends and family in Michigan and Indiana, please drive safely and stay warm...snuggling works! Love you all.

We're Safe, but Need Your Prayers

If you've followed the weather from around the country at all, you know that we went through a pretty tough spell of storms last night. Quite a few tornadoes ripped through the Nashville area, killing over 30 people, according to the news. We are safe where we live, but some families from Lisa's school were not so lucky.

Though none of those people lost their lives, a few lost everything else. Two of those people are Gail, one of Lisa's teacher assistants, and her husband, Donald. They got to their basement in time before a tornado hit and destroyed their house - when it passed, they looked up and saw nothing but sky. Some debris fell on them in the basement, but they don't have any severe injuries. We cannot even imagine losing everything in one fell swoop such as they did, but it is a blessing that they still have each other. You hear about stuff like this all the time, but it's so different when it happens to people you know. Please stop what you're doing and pray for Gail and her husband and the many other families who lost everything they own last night.

Sadness and a Snow Day

Please keep a friend of mine in your prayers. Becky, with whom I teach, lost her baby yesterday morning. Needless to say, this isn't going to be an easy time for her or her husband, Jimmy, and they will need all of our prayers to help them through this impossibly tough time.

We had our first snow day today. It started with a two-hour delay, and both Lisa and I reported to school to prepare for the kids' arrival two hours late. My drive to school is only ten minutes, but Lisa's is about twenty-five minutes, and she'd already driven out there, only to find out five minutes after she'd arrived that the county had closed school. We're hoping for another snow day tomorrow.

We got our Tennessee drivers' licenses today. Hey, it only took six months, right? We wanted to live in Williamson County before we got our licenses and registration changed over (we were in Maury County before...we're snobs, I guess). Both of our pictures look pretty good, I must say!

Everything's going well with our new home. Though moving day was two weeks ago, we didn't take everything, only the big items. We've been working hard to get everything else moved out, and finally got everything moved over to the house last night. I went over today and vacuumed (with our new Dyson...I love it!!!), and turned in our keys. It was our first home for our new life in Tennessee, but I can't say I'm going to miss it. I'm glad to be in our own house, which we absolutely love (slideshows coming)!

Lisa started her Masters courses tonight. It's going to be somewhat grueling for the next year, but she's strong and I know that she's going to do great. I drove out here tonight, and am relaxing in Lipscomb's library, reading, playing on the computer, and honestly enjoying myself. But now I'm getting hungry, so I'm going to stop now. To all of our friends and family in Michigan, please be careful out there, dress warmly, and be safe! We love you all!

Mouse Poop

The day after we took possession of the house, we came over and started doing some work on it. We pulled out the stove, and there were all sorts of little brown objects behind it. I had to look behind the stove all over for a hole, because though I'd never seen it before, Lisa said it looked exactly like mouse poop. I was getting ready to call the previous owner and ask him what he did about the mouse problem in the house, when I looked a little more closely. Mixed in with the mousey mess were little multi-colored beads, which were ice cream sprinkles. It turned out, the "mouse poop" was just chocolate jimmies. So...no mouse problems! Yay for us! :-)

Monopoly, Closing, and Other Stuff

Steve, Tanya, Steven, and Sarah (our brother-in-law, sister, nephew, and niece) got us the Monopoly Electronic Banking edition for Christmas and so far, Lisa and I have played two games...she beat me both times (quite handily, I should add). It's so much fun, and the debit cards are much easier to use than the money. I'm tired of losing, though. I may challenge her again really soon, probably only to be destroyed again. I'll let you know!

We got some great news on the house: we can close early! Our original closing date was January 24, but the previous owners moved to their new house last Saturday, so we're closing on Wednesday, January 16! We are so excited, and can't wait to get the paperwork done and move in. Although we're probably not going to begin living there until Saturday, we're going to get a pizza, take a game, and sit in front of the fire while we play and eat on Wednesday night. We need to hire someone to build a fence around the backyard, and then Grace will have what she's always wanted (well, what we've wanted for her, anyway): her very own soccer field in back! I know our friends and family outside of Nashville won't be able to come, but I hope to have a housewarming party in the near future. We're having a moving party on Saturday, and thank you to all of our friends who are going to be helping us out! It's going to be a blast!

We sold the rest of our CDs on eBay this past week, and now we have none in our home. We got an iPod a few months ago, so once we put all of our music on it, we weren't really using the CDs at all. Therefore, we started putting various lots online, hoping to make a little bit of money. The first two lots we put on made almost $300, so that paid for our iPod and more. This last lot that ended yesterday made $250!!! Just another blessing for us! That one paid for my Nano, is the way I'm looking at it.

If anyone wants to send any mail to us, you can start sending it to our new address! If you don't already have it, shoot me an e-mail and I'll shoot our address right back. Love you all!

Coolest Technology

Lisa got me the Apple Nike+ iPod Sport Package for Christmas, and it is so awesome! What you do is, you put a special chip in your shoe (in my case, in a little pouch that ties into my shoe), and plug the receiver into my iPod Nano. Then, as I'm running or walking, it keeps track of the distance I've gone, my speed, how many miles/hour I'm going, and how many calories I've burned. There's even a little voice that talks to me to motivate me and let me know all of this information.

When I first looked at it in the store, I thought it was just an expensive pedometer, but it's so not that. (It only costs around $30.) For those of you unfamiliar with it, it gives you exactly the same kind of information that a treadmill does, so I would say it's a very inexpensive treadmill. That's my technology plug for the day. Thanks, honey, for such an awesome gift!

(If you're wondering, during my first use last night, I walked 3.1 miles last night and burned 606 calories.)