Colin's New Job!

That's right, in addition to being a full-time graduate student with the MSU band department, Colin has a new job!! Colin will be the new interim organist at St. Katherine's Episcopal Church in Williamston. He has played on the organ and thinks that it is a beautiful instrument and is excited to be able to use his musical talents in a performing arena again. The church is very historic and quaint, and its ground include the main church, a smaller chapel that is actually an historic landmark (the original site of the church), and a beautiful prayer garden that has an authentic labyrinth! Information about the church can be found online at their site by clicking here. Colin and I are both looking forward to this new activity in our lives in Michigan.

Rhodes Family Visits Michigan!

Mom and Dad at the lighthouse in Grand Haven

My parents came to Michigan for a visit this past week, and we had so much fun with them! They flew in on Wednesday afternoon and we got to catch up a little bit, and then on Thursday, my dad played golf while I went to work and Colin went to class. On Friday, we took a day trip to Frankenmuth, Michigan, which is a little German town about an hour and a half west of Lansing. We went to Bronner's, the largest Christmas store in the world. We also went to all of the shops in town and then ate yummy German food.

Mom, Dad, Me and Colin outside of Bronner's Christmas Store

Dad and Colin inside Bronner's Christmas Store

On Saturday, we went an hour and a half to the east of Lansing to Grand Haven, a small town situated on the coast of Lake Michigan. This was our first time to ever see Lake Michigan, and it was huge!! We walked along the coast and looked at the beach.

Lighthouse at Grand Haven

Boats coming into the channel from Lake Michigan

Me and Colin at the lighthouse at Grand Haven

Then, on Sunday, my parents went back to Texas. We were sad to see them leave but were so glad that they could come to visit! Click here to see a complete online album of our summer pictures, or paste the following link into a new browser window: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2332405&id=9203837&l=61fd711d19.

New Puppy Pics!!!

We have made a new album with updated pictures of our favorite family members--Charlotte, Beauregard, and Savannah! If you want to see pictures of our super cute puppies, you can view the album by clicking here or by pasting the following link into your browser window: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2332887&id=9203837&l=f6f5504c5d

Crazy Summer Times!

Colin and Mandie at Cara's rehearsal dinner

Mandie and Cara before the wedding
Great American Ballpark
Astros fans in Cincinnati!

The Spring school semester ended in mid-May, and we have been celebrating Colin not having classes by keeping busy and traveling! Over Memorial Day weekend, we went to Cincinnati to visit our friend Amy and to see the Astros play the Reds at the Great American Ballpark. Although the game was pretty terrible (the Astros lost 16-2--ouch!) , the stadium was gorgeous and we had a good time actually getting to watch some live Texas sports! After the game, Amy had a cookout at her parents' house with some of her Cincinnati friends, so we celebrated Memorial Day the American way with hotdogs and hamburgers. We were even introduced to a new sport--Cornhole! (check it out if you don't know what it is, it is really fun)

Then, in June, we headed to Texas where I was a bridesmaid in my best friend Cara's wedding. She was a gorgeous bride and we were so happy that we could be there to celebrate her big day with her! Cara also was a bridesmaid in our wedding almost two years ago, so it was very special to be able to reciprocate that experience and stand by her side at her wedding. We got to see several of our friends from Baylor as well, which was very good since we don't get to see our college friends very often anymore now that we are far away. The same week, we also worked registration for the Texas Music Teacher's Assocaition Annual Convention, so any spare moment we had from wedding business we spent with our other TMTA friends! I have worked this convention for seven years now, and this was Colin's second, and we always have a good time seeing our friends from the Baylor School of Music who also work with us.

All in all, it has been a busy but satisfying start to our summer, and now we look forward to relaxing! To see a full album of the photos from our Summer trip, click here.

Spring semester is over!

This semester has gone by so quickly since Colin and I have stayed super busy! Just a brief update of what has been going on the past few weeks: I went to San Antonio to present at the Texas Library Association annual conference, and got to see my family in Baytown for a little while because I flew in and out of Houston. Surprise: while I was there, my great aunt and uncle from Athens, GA were randomly in town and we got to hang out with them for a little bit. It was really cool to get to spend some time with them because I don't think we have been to Georgia for the family reunion for my dad's family in a couple of years.

Then, I came back to Michigan and Colin became swamped with work preparing for a big concert that the Wind Symphony at MSU was putting on. MSU College of Music brought in John Corliagno (who won a Grammy for his music for the movie The Red violin) for a week of clinics culminating in a concert combining the Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, and A Cappella Choir here at MSU. It was a great concert, but lots of hard work to put all together, so Colin was super tired. Then, Colin took finals--4.0 for the semester! Woo hoo for my super smart husband!

Last week, we had friends over for a Cinco de Mayo party where I made real Mexican food (not the nasty stuff you get here in Michigan!) and then I went to an Academic Libraries Symposium in Novi, MI. Now, we are so ready for summer!! If only the weather would cooperate...

Cirque du Soleil!

For Valentine's Day, Colin bought us tickets to the traveling Cirque du Soleil production of Alegria that was coming to East Lansing in April. Thursday night was finally the night we got to go see it! The show was spectacular--if you have never seen it before, I highly encourage you to go. There were amazing tumblers, contortionists, acrobats, and funny clowns, and the music was wonderful as well. The coolest part was that our seats were on the floor of the Breslin Center (the MSU basketball arena), so we were up close and personal with the whole show! It was really cool to get to see all of the costume details and makeup artistry that you would not get to see otherwise! We had a great time and were really excited to get to go!

February Update

Beauregard and Savannah taking a nap together on the couch.

Mandie and Colin at the Spartan Marching Band banquet.

We have been keeping pretty busy with school and work these days. Colin is enjoying his classes this semester, and I absolutely love my job at the MSU libraries! The dogs love to play in the snow everyday, and enjoy going to the dog park in East Lansing when we are able to go.

This past weekend was especially busy and fun. Thursday night, to a concert for a salsa band that our friend plays percussion in, and it was super fun to watch all of the people who now how to dance salsa dancing to really good music. On Friday night, we attended the Huddle Banquet for the MSU Spartan Marching Band. It was to get dressed up and see all of our marching band friends that we haven't really gotten to see since the bowl game in San Antonio. To see a complete album of photos we took at the event, click here. Then, on Saturday, we went early in the morning to the Capital Area Humane Society to volunteer orientation so that we can go walk dogs and help out when we have time. We are really excited to finally getted plugged into the volunteer scence of our community. The facility there is very nice and all of the workers are very friendly, so hopefully we can go back really soon.

After that, we went to our first MSU hockey game with some friends of ours that are also from Texas and involved in the College of Music. MSU beat Ferris State, and it was really exciting to watch all of the fights that the players got into on the ice. All in all, we had a good weekend of spending time with friends and actually engaging in community activities, which is a nice change of pace from running from one band event to the next. Today, we are having a winter storm, and received about a foot and half of snow overnight, and it is still coming down hard all day today. Wish us luck as we try to avoid getting snowed in!

And a Happy New Year!

Colin and Mandie celebrating New Year's Eve at

Pat O'Brien's on the San Antonio Riverwalk

Happy New Year from the McKenzies!! We hope that your holiday travels and visits with friends and family were as wonderful as ours were!

As you read in our last post, we had planned to take a whirlwind tour of the South over the Christmas break, and it ALMOST went off without a hitch! A friend of Colin's from MSU is also studying conducting and is a fellow Texan, and had planned to carpool down to Texas with us in his own car with his Cocker Spaniel. Unfortunately, on the day that we were supposed to leave for Texas, his car would not start! So, Colin and I being the wonderful friends that we are :), delayed our trip for a day to see if they could fix his car. The dealership could not fix it in a timely manner, so we offered to take him with us to Texas. That is right--three people, four dogs, and all of our stuff for three weeks of travel in a Honda Accord for over 20 hours!! Sound fun, right? Really, it ended up being fine and we were glad that we could help out a friend.

We visited Texas and Georgia to see both of our respective families, and it was wonderful to be home for Christmas. We even had the added treat of seeing my Aunt Vicki and Uncle Bob in Baytown when we didn't think we were going to be in town at the same time, and seeing lots of people from Columbus when Mrs. McKenzie had a dinner party at her house, including Colin's brother's in-laws who also live in Columbus. Good times were had by all and we were so thankful that we got to be with everyone we love over the holidays. To see pictures from our Christmas vacation, click here to access the web album.

Then, it was off to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl! San Antonio is one of my favorite cities, so we enjoyed very much taking our Michigan friends to experience Texas in one of the most fun places in the state. We were able to ring in the New Year on the Riverwalk, which was very fun. MSU lost the game to Texas Tech, but I felt that we put up a good fight, and the game was much better that we had expected it to be. To see pictures of our trip to the Alamo Bowl, click here to access the web album. To all of our friends that we didn't get to see this trip to Texas, we are coming back in the summer and hope to see you then!

We had to leave the day after the game to drive back to Michigan so that I could be back to start my new job as a Reference Librarian at MSU. I have been working for a week now and absolutely love it! It is exactly what I wanted to be doing in a job, and I am enjoying every minute of being a working girl again! Colin has started his Spring semester of classes and has enjoyed conducting the pep band at hockey games for MSU. We are looking forward to a wonderful semester and hope that Spring comes soon to the state of Michigan! Not that we don't enjoy the snow, but the eight degree weather for weeks at a time is a little too cool for our tastes.

Merry Christmas from the McKenzies!!!

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!! I know that it is a little bit early, but we figured we should post about our Christmas plans before we leave the state of Michigan and have limited internet access. Colin has been at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic since Wednesday, and will be returning on Sunday!! I have missed him being away like CRAZY and can't wait for him to return!

On Sunday, we will begin our 23 hour journey to Texas by car so that we can take the dogs to see their grandparents in Baytown. :) We will stay overnight in Little Rock, AK, and then drive on down to Baytown the next day. After that long drive, I am sure that we will be ready to be out of the car, but we are excited to see the Rhodes family! We will hopefully also be able to get together with some great friends while we are in Texas. Then, we will travel to Columbus, Georgia for a few days to see the McKenzie parents! Dr. McKenzie is going to be deployed to Afghanistan soon, so we really wanted to be able to see the McKenzie side of the family as well before he leaves! Please keep that side of the family in your prayers as they prepare for his departure.

After visiting Georgia, we will be going back to Texas so that we can go to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl!! Michigan State is playing Texas Tech at the Alamodome on January 2, and we are excited to be able to spend New Year's Eve on the Riverwalk with our MSU friends! We will be able to share our Texas heritage with all of our friends from Michigan who have never experienced real Mexican food or Texas Barbecue, so we are thrilled to be back in our home state to see family and friends and catch up on eating good food!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone! We hope that you have a wonderful holiday season with your family and friends just as we intend, and we wish you all safe travels!

Our Christmas tree at our house in Michigan

Colin and Mandie at Dr. Sedatole's house for the band department Christmas party

McKenzie Christmas Picture!!

Christmas Time is Here!!

Christmas time is quickly approaching here in Michigan, and with it has come many blessings!! For those of you who do not yet know, I have a JOB!! Starting in January, I will be one of the reference librarians at Michigan State University. Because of the economy, it is only guaranteed through the end of the Spring semester; however, it could turn into something permanent if more funding is found and will give me some great contacts who can help get a foot in the door somewhere else potentially. We are so grateful that we will have some steady income for the coming semester, and are thankful for all of the prayers and well wishes from our friends and family.

In addition to the blessing of a job, we were also excited to experience our first snow ever tonight! It was beautiful and coming down pretty hard; we will probably receive three to four inches before tomorrow morning. The dogs loved playing in their first snow--they were romping around and chasing each other and eating the snow. Beauregard was even jumping about three feet in the air trying to catch the snowflakes in his mouth before they hit the ground! It was hysterical! Our house looks very pretty with all of our Christmas lights and all of the snow on the ground. I told Colin that it looks like the movie "White Christmas" outside, which he has never seen. We will have to remedy that before the season is over!

Colin is finishing up his first semester here at MSU, and is very busy studying for finals and writing papers for the end of the term. Wish him luck as he prepares to ace his classes! I have recently joined the Meridian Community Band, and performed with them at the annual Lansing Christmas tree lighting at an event called Silver Bells in the City. Colin and his friend Paul came to watch me and we got to take some cute pictures with the Christmas decor. We had fun exploring downtown Lansing as it was all decorated for the holidays, which was fun because we hadn't really ventured into downtown before. Now we are just trying to wrap things up here so that we can travel to Texas and Georgia to be with our families during the holidays!

To see an album of our holiday adventures so far, click here.