Wedding Checklist? Check, Check (again), and Check (back later)

Okay, so it's not completely finished, but we checked quite a few things off the "to do" list yesterday afternoon:

• Wedding bands. Cara and I returned to Markman's (the store where I purchased Cara's engagement ring) to price our wedding bands. I had Cara's engagement band designed by the in-house jeweler so we will have him special design her wedding band to exact match and fit and we are waiting on his price estimate and some CAD images! Turning our attention to my band, we started browsing the selection not planning on making any quick decisions (however, I do have to admit we were both leaning to getting all of the rings from Markman's). Well, we ended up making a quick decision afterall selecting this fancy little number (see left inset). The ring (for those wondring) is 14K white gold and Cara and I both think it pairs amazingly with her bridal set. After making a small down payment, we've got this little guy on layaway for the big day! After seeing it on my finger, I am so excited to get further acquainted. It feels and looks awesome...and most importantly...I am thrilled to officially become Cara's husband! Status: CHECK
• After surprising ourselves by getting the rings checked off our "to do" list, Cara and I ventured out to the local Men's Wearhouse to get me fitted for my buddy Quinn's upcoming wedding and to look at tuxedo rentals for our own wedding. Long story short (I'll spare the gory details to avoid bad-mouthing anyone in such a joyous blog!), we barely got my measurements before we couldn't stand the poor service (hopefully just a bad day for the store/associate) any longer and hit the road. In the end, we wrote a scalding email to the Men's Wearhouse customer service department and we're back to square one trying to figure out what we'll be doing for tuxedo rentals. Men's Wearhouse is on thin ice at best right now for our wedding business. Status: CHECK (AGAIN).
• The last wedding update item actually has nothing to do with our Saturday afternoon errands. Cara scheduled us for our Engaged Encounters retreat a few weeks ago and the retreat weekend is fast approaching (March 6th-8th). We have heard great things about the Engaged Encounters retreat from our friends (Scott and Hanna) and we are both looking forward to the experience. I'm sure Cara or I (or both of us!) have a story or two to share about the weekend on our blog(s) after the big weekend! Status: CHECK (BACK LATER)

So there you have it. Another weekend closer to the big day. Another "to do" list item or two checked off the list. Another 236 days and I'll be Cara's hubby! WOOP! WOOP!

For the dogs?

Hey gang. Matt AND Cara here reporting on the exciting "married couple" kind of day we had:

Last night Cara suggested that we head downtown for the annual doggie parade, aptly named "Mardi Growl". "The parade starts at 11am," she said. "Hmmm," I thought. I was planning on shooting hoops with my classmates starting at 10. Taking note of my hesitation, Cara quickly suggested, "you can play basketball for 45 minutes or so and we'll head straight there a little bit late." I thought this sounded fair, so I agreed. As it turns out, my knee was not feeling up to par this morning so I scratched basketball altogether and off to the parade we went.

The dog parade was truly a sight to behold. Led by the grand marshal, Marley (well, the dog's real name isn't really Marley, it's Rudy, but he was one of the 18 dogs who played Marley in the hit movie "Marley and Me"), the dogs were eager to strut their stuff. And when I say dogs, I mean lots of dogs! Last year over 350 dogs turned out for the parade.

We thought we might be a little odd, showing up to a dog parade without a dog. But we happily met our friends, Mike and Jennifer who brought along their two daughters and their golden retriever, Molly. Molly got a lot of attention as she recently became a 3-legged dog due to bone cancer and is still undergoing chemotherapy.
Since it was Mardi Growl, dogs (and sometimes owners) were decked out in costume. The winner for best costume definitely deserved the prize:
We, as Zags, love Bulldogs and they were definitely out today! Here's one that was crammed into a stroller and looking quite cute and pathetic all at the same time.
And introducing the rest of the cast...

The Shagmiester

The Sass-ma-tass

The Prim & Proper Pup
The Pimped Out Ride

A Hot Dog
One HUGE pug (I call him "Pugs Mahone")
AND we couldn't pass up a picture of a cute, decked out boxer pup!

After the dog show, we enjoyed a delicious Southwestern feast at Moe's and then spent the afternoon out and about around Knoxville (which was quite eventful - more on this later!!) Overall, the dog show was a blast and it definitely helped to maintain our excitement for adding a cute little four-legged friend to our family in the not-to-distant future!!

And speaking of Mardi Growl/Gras; Lent starts soon! We're giving up sweets for Lent! What are you giving up?

Teaching for Life, Part II

In an earlier blog, I posted about my first semester in the classroom. I am now well underway into my 2nd semester of teaching and I feel like I'm really starting to come into my own. Yesterday, I was reflecting back on my first semester of teaching the Accounting 200 class. I couldn't help but find it amazing that I had been up in front of a class of 75-100 students three days a week at 8am.* There I was teaching an amazing group of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (ok, this "bright-eyed, bushy-tailed" part is a stretch) students the ins and outs of accounting.

Reflecting back on the memories of my first semester of teaching seemed absolutely surreal to me...and not for the reason I would have expected. You see, there were times during the semester when I couldn't believe that I was standing in front of such a large "audience". I would flash back to my junior year of high school when a shy, quiet, skinny cross-country runner stood in front of his high school to give a "Vote for Matt Hoag as your ASB Treasurer" speech (Side note: I was the only person running, so the speech was a formality). At the time, I preferred very much to operate behind the scenes. It's not that I wasn't social. I'm certainly an extrovert now, so I had to have been back then. I must have been an extrovert in a bit of a shell. Well, long story short. I won in my "campaign" for ASB treasurer (again, no competition, so this should not be a real shocker) and shipped off to Leadership camp. Surrounded by a bunch of loud, energized, hyper "super-leaders" I felt a bit gun-shy at first. But, by the end of the week I was firmly out of my shell and I haven't looked back since. So, I always believed that any surreal feelings about teaching in a University would be along the lines of "I can't believe that shy high schooler really did this teaching thing!!" Instead, I was shocked when the surreal feelings I felt yesterday was more along the lines of "What the heck took me so long?!?"

The college classroom is where I belong. While the first semester was not without some emotional ups and downs, the second semester finds me much more acclimated to the classroom. I love being able to share my passion and excitement for learning and life with my students. I get such a high out of being in front of the class and I really enjoy challenging myself day-in and day-out to be a better teacher/mentor/advisor. This semester I have two sections of a business capstone course, which I lead on Friday afternoons. Yesterday, I covered a morning section for one of the other instructors who had to be out of town so I found myself in the classroom from 10am until just after 5pm (Note: I was supposed to be done at 4:30pm but for the second straight week I found myself staying after to chat with and mentor my students). I was completely exhausted but it was that good kind of exhausted. I am in my element when I'm in the classroom. I can't get enough of it and most importantly I could not be happier that I am well on my way to fulfilling my life's calling; Professor Hoag has a nice ring to it.

I received my evaluation scores from my accounting class a few weeks ago. There were times when I flat-out dreaded getting my scores. I was sure they were going to be low. There were so many things I knew I could have done - should have done - better. I realize now that I was being ridiculously hard on myself. It was my first semester and I have a lot of "growing" to do for sure in improving as a teacher. In the end, the scores were certainly not high. My class did not do particularly well overall, so that really shouldn't be much of a surprise. But, I did score highly in two areas that really stood out to me, "enthusiasm" and "availability of extra help when needed".

I know that I will make lots of improvements in my lectures (both style and content) as I gain experience. But, I pride myself in being approachable and enthusiastic about what I'm doing and I am so happy that this was visible to my students. Teaching is going to be such an incredible life journey for me and I am so happy that the journey is now well underway!

(*depending on the day, my "official" class size was 120 at the start of the semester and 109 at the end)

Voice of an Angel?

Cara and I just returned from church this morning at the Catholic "Center" here on campus. We both love going to church and feel like it's such a good way to start our Sundays together. So, we are trying our best to make it part of our routine (which is tough given that it largely hasn't been for either one of us since our days at Gonzaga). The upcoming Lenten season definitely provides a great opportunity to make weekly mass a regular part of our lives.

One of my favorite things to do at mass is sing. Those that know me well, know I really do like to sing (I find myself undeniably drawn to karaoke bars). So at church I really like to belt out the songs and make my voice heard. Today at church - when we all exchanged the "sign of peace" handshakes with each other - the lady in front of me commented, "you have a really lovely voice." I was flattered and I probably turned a little bit red. But nonetheless, it was a nice compliment. What makes this seemingly inconspicuous compliment truly noteworthy was that it wasn't the first singing compliment I had received at St. John XXIII. In fact, the last time Cara and I attended mass (three weeks ago) the lady in front of us said to me at the end of mass, "I just wanted to let you know that you have a gorgeous voice!"

Different lady. Different description. Same gist. Now, I am rather proud of my voice. I know I don't have any Grammy's waiting for me, but I do enjoy singing and sharing my voice with the world. But, I find it humorous that I've received only one other such compliment on my voice (not including family/friends) at mass in over 20 years of being a mass-goer.

So, has my voice improved considerably with age? Or is it perhaps the close seating quarters at the University church space? Maybe it is the sweet Southern hospitality and personalities thatU make Southern folk more outgoing in doling out praise to strangers? Or, perhaps the acoustics are really just superb in St. John the XXIII?

I'm stumped. What do y'all think?