Student said what?

As most of you know, I'm wrapping up my second semester teaching three advertising courses in the K-State Journalism Department...it's been challenging, rewarding, interesting, weird, serious, cold, warm, scary - every adjective you can think of...but as I've become more settled at KSU, I've been enjoying myself much more.

Many people ask me about the weird excuses students come up with, and yes, I've heard the weirdest of the weird. My favorite is not appropriate for this blog (ask me). I had another student come up to me after the first day of class and told me he had a disease that made it hard for him "to wake up before 11 a.m." so he may not make it to many classes. HA! I've had a couple emails that I'm sure were sent straight from the bars in Aggieville late at night, and all of these make me think of the things I used to do in college. I guess being closer in age to the students than a typical professor is pretty beneficial for them in that I usually just laugh and work with them if it's (truthful &) necessary.

Here's a pretty wonderful example of my life a la Instructor...
It's the second to last week of school here, so I pulled out a "fun" exercise in my Advertising Writing & Strategy class yesterday. The students formed groups and were given directions: 1. Choose a product, any product. 2. Brainstorm all the characteristics, benefits, attributes of this particular product. 3. Come up with a HUMOROUS poem or limerick - three lines max - to try and sell the product. I wrapped-up the directions with "Make your classmates laugh."
A group of four young women came up with the following (even adding a print ad on one of the computers in the room), and I have to admit, this kind of humor is right up my alley. A+!!! :)

Athletic Cups Limerick:

Running down the field so fast,

You didn't have time to notice the pass.

And now there's a ball where you don't want it to be,

Trust us, we've been protecting packages since 1973.

Shopping Discount!

I grew up with a wonderful and talented woman named Missy Dondlinger. Missy went to New York after graduation from Mizzou, and she is now a Senior Copywriter for Macy's in NYC. She sent out a special discount for Macy's shoppers, and I wanted to pass along the info to our friends and family:)

Spring Friends & Family event April 27 - May 2. You can get an extra 25% off just about anything - and a lot of designer names that usually aren't on sale are included in that - woohoo! Plus, free shipping - yay! 

Just enter MACYSFF at checkout.


Thanks Miss!!!

P.S. Here's another F&F discount I saw this morning for Timberland...

HoneyMOONERS!

We found out pretty quickly that, at a Mexican resort, they really love honeyMOOOOONERS. Every time one of the native resort workers at El Dorado Royale found out we were newlyweds, they greeted us with the same excitement and elongated label. "Ahhhhh honeyMOOOONERS!! Very nice!!"

We left for Riviera Maya the Sunday after our wedding day (September 18, 2010). Here's a snap shot of seven wonderful days in Mexico:

Looking out onto the Gulf of Mexico

Lunch break at a resort cafe. Best gazpacho ever!!

The two chaises you see are right outside our private casita (suite).
We hopped into that "lazy river" every day and swam right up to
a pool bar for a drink. Heaven.

IT'S ALIVE!!!

Wedded bliss!!

This is our friend Ivan. He greeted us every morning
in this very spot right outside our casita.

Ivan sat here until noon before he would inevitably waddle over
to the swim-up bar you see 10 yards in the background for an
afternoon drink. 

You may ask yourself why would anyone willingly post this picture.
Well, the reason is that this picture was taken shortly after the greatest
couples massage EVER!! The masseuse got a little intense with the scalp
as you can see. 

Candlelight dinner on the beach at El Dorado.

honeyMOOONERS!!!

Our personal and private back patio. So peaceful.

HH = Handsome Husband

We ran into some fellow Americans in nearby Playa del Carmen.
They were so excited for recent nuptials (or drunk) that they bought us
Tequila shots. You might be able to tell who handles that particular liquor better.

Reading next to the Gulf of Mexico. No big deal.

This is one of the hundreds of private outdoor beds throughout the resort.

The bartender at the closest bar to our casita (a 30 second swim)
produced this delicious concoction with a bunch of different stuff and coconut water.
My favorite drink of the week. 

On the beach right before our catamaran ride.

Candlelight dinner on the beach after the catamaran ride.

God bless them for trying.

Snorkeling in Cozumel.

One of the many ploys to get American business. Works every time.

We started falling apart towards the end of our trip...first Craig's flip flop....

...then Katie's wedding manicure.

Ferry back to the mainland.

Last dinner in Mexico. Pretty sure we ordered seven different
courses. One of the many great things about "all-inclusive."

An after-dinner drink at our favorite martini bar on the resort.
Perfect end to the perfect honeyMOOOOOON.

Next up...

We're working on posting our favorite Honeymoon pics! Stay tuned.

Happy Easter!

We're headed to Kansas City this weekend...first up, our nephew Brock's fifth birthday party at Deanna Rose in Overland Park, then we're headed to a wedding at Mildale Farm. One of Craig's good friends growing up, Julie Curtis, is getting married and we're excited to celebrate! Easter Sunday is church and brunch at Room 39 @ Mission Farms.
We're excited to spend some quality time with friends and family this holiday weekend:)

First up, Happy Easter from Katie and Tracy - we stopped to see (one of) the Easter Bunny on the Plaza a few weekends ago...

Joining the club!

We figured it was about time to start our blog. We're hoping to use this to post pics and update everyone on what we're up to in Manhappenin! Now come visit!