The Little Drummer Boy - Ziah 9mos

My little nephew is a little cutie! He's gonna be awesome at Rock Band!
I couldn't get the video to embed, but here he is on ZiahVision...

Promtastic

We had our MBA Formal on February 2nd. It's always lots of fun to get dressed up and drink with your friends. Matt and I pre-partied with a small crew, then headed over to the venue to dance the night away. The drink line was horrendous, so we spent like half the night waiting in line, but we still had fun.

We sure clean up nice.

The gals...what hotties!

The guys...they had fun with the man picture.

We gals took a break from the dance floor for this photo.

Paradise on the Riviera Maya

In January, we went to Playa del Carmen on the Riviera Maya in Mexico for Dave and Sarah's wedding. Dave is Matt's BFF, and was Matt's best man, so Matt returned the favor.

The wedding ceremony on the beach at our resort

Us on the beach after the ceremony...what a gorgeous day!!

Dance party fun -- thanks to Marco for the idea for this pic :)

We found out that Jen Huffman's parents were gonna be in Playa del Carmen at the same time as us. Their resort was 3 doors down, so we met up one afternoon for drinks. What fun!

Jason, Summer, Dave, Sarah, Matt and I went on an excursion. It started with zip-lining through the jungle. Then we snorkeled in cenotes (underground water-filled caves) and repelled off a platform. Finally, we went to Tulum (Mayan ruins).

Cenote (underground, water-filled cave)

The gang before snorkeling

Us at Tulum...

Matt and I stayed a few extra days after the "wedding week". We went up to Cancun, then drove out to Chichen Itza, which is the most famous Mayan ruin site.

This pic proves we were there :)

We've decided that a warm-weather vacation is a must during winter from now on. Hmm...where should we go next??

Chicago Bound

So, it's officially official now. I accepted my offer from SC J0hnson and Matt and I are moving to Chicago after we're both done with grad school. Well, not right after grad school. We plan on traveling this summer -- the location is yet to be determined. We were originally thinking SE Asia, but it's gonna be hot and humid in mid summer. Now we're thinking that we're gonna travel Eastern Europe. That way, it gives Matt a chance to hit up some big cities in Western Europe, then we can go see new things together. We haven't decided on a route yet, but Hungary and Croatia are on the list for sure. Perhaps we'll get as far down as Turkey...who knows!

We're planning to move in August...super exciting. Jen and Aric are there, along with tons of other friends, so we can't wait. We're probably gonna live in the Buckt0wn area. I have to take the train up to Racine, WI so I want to be close to the station. I'll take the train up to Kenosha, then a shuttle van (paid for by SCJ) will take me the rest of the way. I only have to do this commute about 3 days per week. They subsidize a hotel one night per week, so I can crash in Racine for $20. I'll do the full commute Monday and Tuesday, head up Wednesday (stay the night) then commute home on Thursday. I get to work from home EVERY Friday! So, hopefully I'll get some free time back by being able to do laundry and other things while I'm working on Fridays.

Once again, I need to catch up on everyone's blogs. I don't know how all of you moms do it...keep up with life and blogs. Any tips?

Miss you all. Happy holidays!

Roller Derby + Roller Skating = FUN!

Back to the same old ways for me, since I haven't had any posts for long a while.

This one was too good to pass up. A few gals and I went to the roller derby in downtown Detroit on Friday. It was a blast! Conveniently enough, our b-school friends were throwing a roller skating themed birthday party that same night. Inspired by the roller derby, we went to the party in themed outfits. I wonder, where else besides grad school could you get a bunch of 30-year-olds to rent out a roller rink, so they could skate and drink at the same time? Well, drinking + skating = "I think I'm a great roller skater." However, I have the scrapes and bruises to prove that I met the floor many times. My hopes and dreams of joining a roller derby team have been dashed because I am, in fact, NOT a good roller skater.

Rollin' Detroit Derby Girls Style!

The whole group of us (sad that it's so dark!)

Hofbräuhaus and Golf Pub Crawl

We had a blast in the 'Nati this past weekend! Friday we went to see "Kn0cked Up", then went to the Hofbräuhaus in Newport, KY for some liter-beers. Unfortunatley, I forgot my camera...maybe I meant fortunately!

Saturday we went to Covington, KY for a golf-themed pub crawl. We went to 9 different bars, each bar representing a hole along the course. In order to get par, you had to drink the specified drink...double drinks counted for a birdie. We had lots of birdies! By the end of the night, we were dancing more than we were drinking...it was a blast!

L to R: Kristen, Nick, Heather, Mark, Maura, Lance, Andrea, Alan, Amy

Front (L to R): Andrea, Maura, Kristen, Heather;
Back (L to R): Mark, Lance, Greg, Nick

Jamie, Reema, Andrea, Sarah

Andrea and Maura -- twins, separated at birth...
okay, we just bought the same shirt at TJ M@x

Summer Internship in the 'Nati

I started my internship at P&G on May 14th. I'm working in Marketing (Brand Management) on P@mpers. So far, things are going well. I have some interesting projects -- working on some new product stuff and merchandising (displays you see in the store, features/store circulars, and mailers). I'm definitely gonna learn a lot this summer. It's always a bit frustrating starting a new job...there's so much to learn about the company, the current status of the business, and the background of the project. I feel pretty well ramped up now, so it's time to get to work! I know you all must have some burning questions, so I'll try to answer them:

Where are you living? Well, I feel that I've reverted a bit in life because I live in the dorms at Xavier University. It's been 9 years since I lived in a dorm. I have to say these are nothing like Tech dorms tho...it's more like a little apartment. It's kinda cool to be able to walk down the hall to talk to people and hang out. And we meet in the lobby to head out to the bar.

How's Cincinnati? Just like any city...as long as you have some fun people to go out with. There are some happenin' areas like Hyde Park, Mt. Adams, Mt. Lookout, and Newport (northern Kentucky...yup, KY can be cool). There's a group of MBA interns that I go out with, and we've been to some fun places. There's still a lot left to explore tho.

Where's Matt? He's in the Detroit area for the summer. We're doing the long-distance thing yet again. It's only for 11 weeks, and the time will fly by. We've got lots of weddings and stuff going on this summer, so we'll see each other every couple of weeks. He's busy with work and grad school. He's taking two classes right now, so he has classes 4 nights per week...he's doing that so we graduate at the same time, then we can travel together for a while!! YAY!

What have you done lately? Matt came down for Memorial Day. We went out in Mt. Adams with Erin (M) B and Mark (we had a blast!!). On Sunday, Matt and I went to a Cincinnati Reds game (baseball) and then went to the Taste of Cincinnati for dinner. It doesn't compare to Arts, Beats and Eats (let alone Chicago), but it was a nice little dinner experience.

When can I visit? I know, you're all dying to come down. As with every summer, it fills up fast. My dance card is getting full, so there are limited weekends available -- June 8-10, June 22-24 and July 20-22. That's it! Better get while the gettin's good!

When are you done? My internship ends July 27th, so I'll be headed back to Michigan after that.

What are you doing after the internship? I'll have some free time between July 30 and August 9, altho Aug. 2-5 is booked for Lindsey's wedding (Green Bay) and Laura's bachelorette party (Chicago). From Aug. 9-22 I'll be in Costa Rica and Belize. After that, Orientation stuff starts up at Michigan, so I'll be in Ann Arbor welcoming a new class to Ross.

Pirates of the Huron River

I finished my first year of grad school last week. The last 7 weeks have been spent working on a single project, so we did lots of research (hence the trips to Prague and Germany), then spent tons of time creating a final presentation and final report based on our findings. I can't believe I'm done with year one, and I'm officially an MBA2...lots of fun to look forward to next year!

Once we finished the school year, there was lots of celebrating. Thursday night we went to the standard Happy Hour, which was very well attended! After that, we went to Circu$ B@r for some karaoke and 55 cent P*B*Rs...one couldn't ask for a better night! Friday was a bit more low key with a few drinks at a local establishment. Saturday we went canoeing on the Huron River...what a blast. We enjoyed our slow float down the river, quenching our thirst with a brewskie or eight. I was supposed to head up to Kim and Jen's 30th birthday party, but unfortunatly I couldn't drive after the river festivities, so I stayed in Ann Arbor. I was the "Napkin Queen" at D0minik's -- I covered myself in napkins because it was kinda cold. I don't have any pictures of that yet, but it was funny. Finally, we spent the end of Saturday dancing the night away at R!ck's...muchas booty shaking! All in all, it was a great weekend celebrating the end of the first year. Here's a great pic of the "Pirates of the Huron River"...

Boyne Ski Trip

The MBA kids took a ski trip up to Boyne during the first weekend of February, so I got out on my board once this year. It was SO cold that weekend!

Here we are stopping for a drink to warm up before heading back out on the slopes...

That's me and my roommate Jess at the bar having a good ol' time.

And finally, me and some of my fellow classmates set the bar record for Photo Hunt. That's right, we have the all-time best record...cant' you tell how smart we are?

What a fun trip. We hope to get out somewhere better next year, but this trip was a blast all the same!

The BUS

What is The BUS you ask? Well, it's an old school bus that's been partially gutted, so we could add couches and a DJ booth. The outside is painted maize and blue, featuring the Wolverine helmet design.There are 50 MBA members of the BUS, it consists of 2/3 second years and 1/3 first years. I'll be a member for both years, as was Jen Huffm@n...the MTU girls know where the party's at! (That's me on the far right).


We host tailgates for all the home UM games, and we often travel to nearby away games (probably MSU and Wisconsin this year). As members, we start the day at 6am at BOC (Breakfast of Champions), then we go to setup the tailgate.

The tailgate starts at 9am, and we have a DJ spinning tunes, flip cup tables, beer pong tables, and bongs running down the side of the BUS.

The cost is $5 for a cup all day (although it may need to increase if our costs go up too much this year). Any and all friends are welcome. The students in attendance are mostly MBAs, with hardly any (if any) undergrads...although we try to rival them with our keg stands! We tear down when the cops come yell at us (usually around 10pm), then we head out to the local bars.


Did I mention that any and all friends are welcome!

Here is the Michigan schedule for the 2007 season. Let me know if you're interested in attending any of the home games in Ann Arbor, or if you want to look for us at one of the away games (likely MSU and Wisconsin). Heck, even Stephen M. R0ss (who donated $100M to our school) came to one of these last year...he's the old guy right behind me in the last picture.

Sept. 1, 2007 Appalaichian St.
Sept. 8, 2007 Oregon
Sept. 15, 2007 Notre Dame
Sept. 22, 2007 Penn State
Sept. 29, 2007 @ Northwestern
Oct. 6, 2007 Eastern Michigan
Oct. 13, 2007 Purdue
Oct. 20, 2007 @ Illinois
Oct. 27, 2007 Minnesota
Nov. 3, 2007 @ Michigan State
Nov. 10, 2007 @ Wisconsin
Nov. 17, 2007 Ohio State