Leaves Changing on campus

Michael returned to school after a week off for fall break. We're really excited about his parents coming out here in the middle of November. They'll be here for parent's weekend and the Notre Dame vs. Utah football game. Hopefully all the leaves haven't fallen by then so they can see how gorgeous it is right now!! It may seem early, but Michael and I are already discussing what city we may end up in after Law School. It is important for him to network and make contacts in the cities we're interested in by his first year summer externship. Mike and couple of his friends from school are going to do a Project for school credit in Chicago over winter break before we head home for Christmas. Chicago is one of the cities we are contemplating living in after Law School. We're also getting information this week about a study abroad program in London for his Second Year. If I could go with him, it may be a possibility for next year! Other than that not much has changed except the color of the leaves!

Updates!

Mike and I have been in Indiana for a month and ten days now. I have been working for Ethan Allen Interior Designs as the Mishawaka Operations Administrator. I love the job and love the people I work with. They are all really helpful and supportive. I found out that I get Sunday's and Tuesdays off. That means I do have to work Saturday since we are a retail store, but I get to take one Saturday off a month, and sometimes I can trade with a Designer for Monday's off so hopefully I can get a two day weekend once in awhile. Mike has completed his first week of Law school and has been spending a lot of time reading in his office. He's very excited for the first Football game this Saturday. I will not be able to attend a lot of the games with him because I am not a student and will be working Saturday's but we are going to buy some tickets for October and November games when I can get some time off. We're getting used to having different schedules so the time we do get to spend with one another after I get off work is not taken for granted. We know its going to be difficult when he has time off of school and I'm still working. Hopefully I can take some of my sick days off around Christmas time and Ryan and Anna's wedding in May 2011. When summer time comes around Mike is going to be applying for internships at law firms and does not know where he'll end up. Worse case scenario, he'll have to do his internships in a different state for three months and I'll have to visit when I can until he comes back to school. But we'll figure that out when its time!

Growing up!!

Walking down the North Entrance to the ND Football Field.

Walking out to Notre Dame Stadium

Touch Down!!!

The Press Box where we had the Reception

Amazing !!

Mike on the ND Football Field

We're finally growing up! :) I (Bridget) have a job now as the Operations Administrator at Ethan Allen Interior Designs. I will be the liaison between their designers, clients, and the manufacturers. I start this week and I am very excited!! Michael and I went to his third day of orientation today. They had all the first year Law students (1L's) gather in one of their big classroom/ court room, and had the Dean of the Law School talk. After that we walked over to the stadium and had the privilege to enter through the field entrance. We were able to take pictures actually ON the field and then we headed up to the press box where they held a reception for everyone. We met some new people including an engaged couple who moved here from Florida. They live off campus as well and she's looking for work while both of our boyfriends have the same class schedule. All four of us are happy that we found another couple to hang out with since most of the first year law students at Notre Dame came here single and live on campus. We're really excited to start school and work this week so wish us luck as we embark on this adventure!

August!

View from the front door into the kitchen (left) and hallway to livingroom (right)

The back wall in our living room

Down stairs living room and dining room

Some big things have changed since the last time we blogged! My brother Ryan proposed to his amazing girlfriend Anna while they were away on vacation in the White mountains! They asked Michael and I to both be in the wedding and we are both so excited for them and for the wedding! Also, We finally painted our house and the whole downstairs is completely done!! Mike is happy that I'm done asking him to hang things on the wall.. (for now).. Here are some pictures! I'm still applying for jobs and have had a few call back emails but nothing steady yet and Mike can't wait till Orientation on the 19th! We're hoping to check out Chicago or Indianapolis before school starts, but also trying to save money since we have spent more than expected moving in. We miss everyone a lot but we registered for skype! So if you have a webcam and microphone then add us on skype and we can video chat! My Screen name is BridgetCKiley. Hope to hear from everyone soon!

We made it!

9pm at night in Indiana .. so light outside!

corona helping us unpack

our house in Indiana

So we finally made it to Mishawaka, Indiana on Wednesday July 21st around 6pm. It was a long trip that consisted of crappy Uhaul equipment that broke on us everyday resulting in delays in New Mexico and Oklahoma. There was some miscommunication among our townhouse's front office staff which resulted in us having to move townhouses into one with a broken AC unit. Our new address is 3304 Newport Ct. Mishawaka, Indiana 46545. So after a couple hours of moving our things into our new home, Michael's brother and dad went to their hotel for the night, and Mike and I had to take the Uhaul to get some food since the battery in my car died from having to use the running lights (again, crappy Uhaul trailer). So we took our big Uhaul and got the essentials for the night. Our first dinner was tomato soup and cheesy garlic bread eaten on a tool box in the middle of our living room floor. It was about 92 degrees in the house even with two fans going and all of our windows open. The next day the maintenance people spent all day working on our 40 year old AC unit and could not fix it. They had a professional come in and look at it and hopefully we will have a working unit by tomorrow. But until then the front office ran out and bought us two window AC units that have kept the house nice and cool. Besides that we have just been unpacking and getting our house set up. Its been a slow but rewarding process to see it all come together. Corona (our puppy) loves the back yard and front yard and has all the grass she could want to run around in. She's adjusted nicely and loves running up and down our stairs.There are definitely a lot of differences between AZ and IN. For instance, everything is a little cheaper here, they have FAZOLI's but do not have Jack in the box, they have fireflies, it doesn't get dark till 9:30pm, and the people here in the service field are a lot more polite and well mannered. But all in all, we may not miss the heat in Arizona but we definitely miss our friends and family. We'll be coming back for Christmas and hopefully we can have some people come out and visit us before then! Mike starts school in about 3 weeks and I'll be looking for a job! We'll keep you updated on all of our adventures and would love for you to leave comments so we can keep in touch!

VEGAS BABY!!!

At the Palazzo

My vegas family!

Us on our One Year at Paris

Mike and I headed off to Vegas for our One year anniversary and had an amazing time! We met in Vegas and decided to spend our anniversary in the same place we met! We stayed at the Paris Hotel and enjoyed getting our butts kicked by their craps table then headed over to the comfortable Imperial Palace where we made our money back! Ended up winning more than double to pay for our whole trip on a Fire Bet (1:250) with craps! We got to see the Human Bodies exhibit at the Luxor, it was amazing and creepy!! We tried some new restaurants and Mike met my Aunt Tracy, Uncle Steve, Katie and Kyle for the first time who live a little off the strip. We got home Thursday evening after a detour through Laughlin instead of sitting through 2 hours of Hoover Dam Traffic! All in all it was an amazing trip before we move to South Bend July 19th.

Tying up loose ends

Because we are moving away we figured we would keep everyone updated of our adventures on here! I just graduated from ASU with a Bachelors of Science in Family and Human Development and Women and Gender studies. I am currently applying for jobs at Notre Dame and will hopefully get to interview for them when we move there. Michael and I are starting to pack our stuff up and His last day of work is next Wednesday, after that we're heading out to Las Vegas for our one year anniversary on July 5th and then we leave for South Bend on Monday July 19th. Although we still need to sell our house in Coolidge, we have a two story townhouse ready for us in Mishawaka, Indiana only 5 minutes away from Notre Dame's Campus. We still have a lot to do and a lot of people to see before we leave but we'll keep everyone updated on here of our adventures!