Small World

Okay, so I can hardly believe that I have been able to see Linnea Wildenradt, Aryn Lentz, Angie Smith, Amy McHenry, and Janice John all in these past two weeks! I suppose it makes it worth the choas of traveling ALL over for work. I guess I need to be super thankful that God knows I needed these extra special little visits to keep me going in the craziness of a traveling career.

However, I also think that it is an incredibly small world and here are three very good reasons.

1) Tuesday, June 19 - Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

I was observing Orthopedic Surgeon Jay Parvizi. We were chatting in the lounge and he mentioned that he spent time at Mayo in Rochester, MN. I asked him if he knew Andy Sems - yes he did.



2) Sunday, June 24 - The Vile's house

I was speaking with George, Kevin's father after Amy's surprise shower. I mentioned how I made a customer visit to HUP (Hospital of University of PA) to meet the new people taking over a project after the young physician had tragically died in his sleep a few weeks ago. Apparently, the daughter of friends of theirs was his wife!



3) Monday, June 25 - Email

I got a follow up email from HUP regarding our project and Abe Voorhees is the scientist from Siemens who will be working with me on this project! We spent two years at Grove City in the engineering program. He transferred to another school and apparently not only finished in engineering but also went on for his PhD. His wife also had their first baby last week Monday otherwise I might have seen him in person while I was in Philly!

A Visit to Janice and Micah

I just met Micah 6 months ago and she has grown up so much since then. She is so cute and such a sweet little girl. Here she is talking on the phone to her grandpa (Janice's dad).
Janice is a great hostess even 2 weeks from her due date! I loved her new condo and we had a nice walk around the neighborhood of Jamaica Plain.
Such a cute belly! I think she has a basketball in her shirt like Jill!
You know these Grove City College friends are keepers for sure! So wonderful even when we haven't seen each other for a long time. Honestly, seeing Janice really was a huge blessing. I had been traveling for work for 2 weeks and was SOOO READY to be home and for a home cooked meal so Janice did a wonderful job sustaining me for the time being.

Surprise for Amy McHenry

So those of us who know Amy we know that in general she does not like surprises. However, it was quite fun to be part of a surprise bridal shower that Kevin's family decided to throw for her. I, of course, am in Philly for work and happened to mention this to Amy so that in case we could see each other then great! Kevin got word and passed my info on to his sister Sharon who figured out my train route and got me to the shower so I could join in all the fun. Amy did enjoy it after she got over her first 15 minutes of shock.
So yes with all the excitement and fun from the shower we forgot to take a picture of us all dressed up. Here we both are Monday morning for our early flights. No shower or makeup - just us.

Obligation to Tour Philly

So here I am in Philly for work. Yes I flew in here on Monday, June 19 and fly out Monday June, 25. I had meetings at both Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Hospital of University of Pennsylvania. And this weekend I've been taking a Musculoskeletal Imaging Class. I am tired and my brain is getting close to capacity with all this information but before dinner tonight I decided that I should at least walk the 6 blocks to the historical part of town.

This is me in front of Independence Hall - I think this is where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

This is a fuzzy picture of the Liberty Bell. I took it through the window from quite far away. But if you don't get cross-eyed looking at it then you might see me in the lower right hand corner!
And here is Benjamin Franklin's Grave. Interesting.
Okay, so now I feel quite historically fulfilled for the day and get to go to bed. Phew.

Visiting Angie Smith in Mt. Wolf, PA

Yes I continued my tour around the Harrisburg suburbs and Aryn and Angie agreed to meet half way so I could see both of them in my short little respit from work. Carter just turned 2 last week and is SO GOOD. He listens to Angie really well and kept asking if I could come everywhere his mom told him to go. It is so nice when kids warm up to you so fast. Charles is also an engineer so we were able to chat a bit about work. They have done some pretty neat stuff with their house like Charles made these amazing cement countertops! They look really nice and his engineering skills certainly came in handy. Angie is also quite a good cook - it was such A HUGE BLESSING to have dinner with them instead of having to eat out.

Here is a picture of Angie, Carter, Charles, and Rio sitting on their front steps.

And here is a picture of Angie and me.

Visiting Aryn Lentz in Camp Hill, PA

It's been 5 years since I've seen Aryn but kindred spirits have no trouble with gaps in time. She still looks the same but her kids have been growing up and growing in number! Emmett is cute but getting to the cool stage at age 6. Anna is absolutely adorable at 3 and Ian drools a lot but is a very adorable 4 month old. I enjoyed seeing them and spending the day playing, and picnicing. We stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things for our picnic. I can't believe this is the only picture I have of little Ian. I think he was so fun to stare at that I forgot to take more pictures when I was holding him. This is our picnic at Beverly Park. Anna, me, Emmett, and Aryn. My favorite was having Hi-C Blast . . . definitely picked out by the kids. Anna is my new buddy and we both wore pink (her favorite color).
Me, Anna, and Emmett are in front of Owen's Garden. This was planted in rememberence of their older brother and it is a beautiful addition to Beverly Park which is just down the road from their house.

Linnea's visit to WI

Tubing on the lake. Yes it is fun to pretend that we are young! We also both waterskied and that was fun too. Do you like that W for Wisconsin! This is at Linnea's parent's cabin in WI (it is just north of Madison).

I got to see Linnea's WHOLE family all at once. Considering her sister's family lives in Italy and Linnea lives in South Carolina I found it amazing. It was quite a priviledge to be able to crash their family vacation. In the back: Mason (Corinne's husband), Clark, Jim, and Theo. In the front: Sophia, Corinne, Gloria, Megan (Clark's girlfriend), and Linnea. Such a cute family. I figured I would post this picture for everyone to see since Linnea doesn't have a blog and I knew you'd all want to see it.
Sarah and Linnea. We talked until 11 and then I drove home for 2 hours. I just didn't want to leave - it was so great to see her and catch up.

Slumber Party

This weekend my niece Katie and I had a sleepover! We played dress-up, built a fort, colored, read books, watched Cinderella, went swimming, made home made peanut butter, and Katie's favorite was painting our finger and toe nails (we match!!!).

Katie took her nap in my bed and tucked in her stuffed animals right next to her. She read an entire pile of books too.