Thanks for all the props, folks. It means a lot to me!
This was almost 2 1/2 years in the making. I know I still have lots to learn, and I am most excited about the learning opportunities that have opened up to me now that I got promoted

.
A few months ago about a dozen of us at my former group left our old school to train in a basement, facilitated by my good friend and training partner Matt, who holds the rank of one-stripe blue belt. Our old instructor was great at imparting the beginning basics, but once many of us started approaching blue belt level, there was no plan for our continued learning, and many of us were stagnating. We sought out an affilition with Ryan Fiorenzi, and Matt drives about twice a week to train at Ryan's school and bring back the BJJ goodness. I personally try to make it to Ryan's every 3-4 weeks as the family schedule allows

. This arrangement has been very good for us, as we all have seen our games improve phenomenally over the past few months under Ryan/Matt's tutelage. We all feel that our future in BJJ is very bright indeed.
Thanks again for the words of encourgement. Matt, get back to the dojo, man! Oldman, keep up the good stuff with your PMA RDA experiment! As for me, I am visiting the in-laws in California this week, and will do some great training out here and hopefully bring back a few nuggets of goodness to my Michigan training partners when I return!
Peace,
Mike