Colin passed his Comps!

We just got word that Colin has passed all of his Comprehensive Exams with flying colors!  WOO HOO!! One more thing that he can check off of the list as he moves closer to his doctorate completion date in the spring!  YAY for my super smart husband!

Giveaways!

Two of my friends who also blog are giving away free things on their sites, so I thought that I would share with you!

Win a free $35 CSN giftcard from Cardigan Junkie (a fashion blog):
http://www.cardiganjunkie.com/2011/02/35-gift-card-giveaway-from-csn-stores.html

Win a giant Gummy Bear from the Crazy Cozads ( a family blog similar to ours)--you have to love the factor of whimsy  provided by this:
http://crazycozads.blogspot.com/2011/02/massive-gummi-bear-give-way_07.html

Happy entries! :)

Snowcalypse!

Colin and Mandie in the snow in front of our house

So, while all of my Texas friends in Dallas were iced in for four days, we had our own Snowcalypse here in Michigan!  Last Tuesday, the weather forecast for our area simply stated "Blizzard," and Colin and I said "why do we live here?!?" We received about a foot of snow over the course of the evening (which Colin promptly had to spend hours shoveling the next day), and MSU actually cancelled classes on Wednesday, which was only the third time that the university has closed in thirty years!  Colin and I enjoyed our snow day, but were grateful that we didn't have the nasty ice that our Texas friends had!

In other news, Colin has taken his comprehensive exams and will find out if he passed them soon.  One step closer to being Dr.!  He has also set his doctoral chamber recital date for March 20, which is required for graduation from the program. The fact that we will be finished with our sojourn in Michigan by the end of the semester is beginning to set in, and we are starting to plan for the next chapter of our lives with great anticipation!  Keep us in your prayers during this exciting, yet stressful time.

You can view our whole winter album by clicking here. Photos include the bowl trip to Orlando, our friend Armand's conducting recital, and our snow pictures.

Savannah and Charlotte digging in the snow in the backyard

Our Christmas penguins buried in the snow!

Photo album link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2413787&id=9203837&l=5e1b5d714b

2011 -- New Year, New Resolutions

2011 promises to be a year of great change and (hopefully!) lots of excitement for Colin and I.  Colin will be finishing up school, we will be moving to an unknown destination, and will be able to experience all of the anticipation and enjoyment that comes with those experiences.  The turn from the previous year to the new year is always one of my favorite times as it allows one to reflect on the happenings of the previous year and make decisions to direct one's life onward and ever upward in the coming year.  That being said, I thought that I would share some McKenzie New Year's resolutions as we prepare to make the most of 2011:

*Lose weight :)
*Find jobs
*Move successfully
*Walk the dogs more and live a generally more healthy lifestyle

What are your New Year's resolutions?  We wish you the best of luck with 2011!

Leaving for the Holidays

Hello friends and family!  We are getting ready to leave tomorrow for Georgia to spend Christmas with the McKenzie family, and then will head to Orlando to watch MSU play Alabama in the Capital One Bowl (it will be televised on January 1 at 1pm Eastern Time--look for Colin on the sideline by the band!).  We wish all of you a Merry Christmas, safe holiday travels, and a Happy New Year!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!!

Colin and Mandie on our way to cut down our Christmas tree

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the McKenzie home!   Even though we will be spending the Christmas holidays with the McKenzie/Garcia family in Georgia, we still wanted to decorate our home for the holidays to enjoy before we travel!  The first decoration that we decided to put up was the Christmas tree.  While we own a cute little pre-lit fake tree that we usually put up, but this year we decided to have a true Michigan Christmas experience and venture out to a tree farm where you can cut your own tree.  Last weekend, we went to Peacock Road Tree Farm in Laingsburg, Michigan, and are now the proud owners of a beautiful Fraser Fir that we cut down ourselves.

Colin cutting down our Christmas tree at the tree farm

It looks beautiful decorated in our home!

Colin also put lights on the outside of the house so that we could be festive like our neighbors.

And then, this weekend, we got a foot of snow!! Everything is snow-covered and beautiful!
To see the full web-album of our Christmas photos, click here.

Our snow-covered backyard

Snow-covered tree in our backyard

Fall pictures on my camera!

I found extra pictures from the beautiful fall that we had here in Michigan on my camera when I was trying to upload Christmas pictures (oops!) and have uploaded them to our fall Facebook album.  You can access the album and view all of the photos by clicking here.  These pictures include MSU football games, Colin's concerts, pictures I took of the leaves changing on campus, and Spartan Spectacular, a concert that the Spartan Marching Band does every year indoors.  Happy viewing!

Budget Travel Magazine Giveaway!

My friend Sara is giving away a year-long subscription to Budget Travel Magazine, a great magazine for people who want to find new places to visit while staying in a budget!  To win, all you have to do it leave a comment on her "Crazy Cozads" blog.  You can enter the contest and find out more about the contest by clicking here.

CSN.com--a great place for one-stop holiday shopping!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I love to read blogs about multiple topics and follow several.  For those of you unfamiliar with the world of blogging, stores will often offer to give freebies to blog readers if you sign up for email updates from their websites, share their information with your friends, etc.  I enter these contests all of the time hoping for free things and of course, never win.  Until recently. 

A fashion/style blog that I follow recently had a give-away for a free $75 gift certificate to CSN.com and I won!  I was unfamiliar with this store until the giveaway post, and wanted to share with our readers because it is really great.  It is comparable to a Bed, Bath & Beyond, but with more selection, especially for home products.  And right now they are offering free shipping and freebies on lots of housewares before Christmas.  If you are looking for a one-stop place to shop for family Christmas gifts, I would recommend visiting http://www.csnstores.com. 

And for what am I going to redeem my free gift certificate???  I am not sure yet, but this cute red tea kettle by Le Creuset: http://www.csnstores.com/Le-Creuset-Q3101-67-LEC1609.html

Job Extension

For those of you who do not know, my faculty library position here at MSU has been a temporary appointment dependent on funding (the economy here is not so great).  Last May, the administration extended my contract to the end of December, and we have been anxiously waiting to find out if they would be able to extend me through the Spring semester of 2011.  Yesterday, they approved my appointment through May, which is when Colin should be finished with his coursework and we would be looking to move on to wherever he finds a job.  What a blessing and relief!