A visit from Derek

Jen brought her 6 month old home to WI for a visit and I made the list of vistors! It was so fun to see her as a mom and know that her life changed from being single and 32 to being married and with a baby in 2 years - there is hope for me! I am not giving up! (more on Mike and Jen on their blog)

My tomatoes are growing!

I am so excited! This very plant had to be rescued during the storms we had a few weeks ago. I didn't know if it would make it. But here it is! And its my first "garden" so that makes it special too.
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My plant is growing!

Here is one of my latest clippings and it is the first one to show a little shoot! I am so excited!
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Katie Loves Dogs

FLASHBACK to March 2004 in the Punta Cana airport on our way home from a nice family vacation. My niece Katie, who was only 1 1/2, stops the bomb sniffing dog . . . not only pets it . . . not only hugs it . . . but also tries to take it by the lease and lead it home with us.

So here we are now in 2008 and it was only a few months after her very serious question to me "Aunt Sarah, do you have any friends with dogs . . . that need help walking them?" And my friend Erin has been WAITING ever so patiently to have Katie come visit her adorable Cavalier named Daisy. So Saturday was the big day. After all the rain and flooding we've had in Wisconsin we were all thankful for a sunny warm day.Yes so here is Katie walking Daisy. She is a fantastic dog walker and was very good at stopping before crossing any streets as well as keeping Daisy's feet from being tangled by the leash.Me, Erin, Daisy, and Katie. Katie thought it was very funny that Daisy licked her feet. She called them doggy beauty treatments. Katie and Daisy (who was so good with Katie too!)

Blog Neglect

Okay, so it has been FOREVER since I have updated my blog. Life has been busy and mostly because I was coaching a high school lacrosse team. The girls were so quick at picking up the sport and the team had good cohesive chemistry. It was the first year and yet my JV team was the conference champions! So cool.And work has been busy because my co-worker and friend Rebecca is getting married and moving to Germany so I am supporting her Advanced Neurology software project. It has been interesting to say the least. Here we are making cookies on her birthday - she had just flown in from out of town so it was a spontaneous dinner turned into baking and talking all night.

So here is a picture of the MRI scan I volunteered for. This is a fusion of a 3D anatomical scan and the Diffusion Tensor Image (DTI) that was used for 3D fiber tracking. This particular structure is the Corpus Callosum which connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain.

For all this Neuro stuff I had a one day trip to Chicago where the AANS (American Association of Neuro Surgeons) meeting was taking place. I took the opportunity to get together with my cousin Kerry Gill for dinner. It was so fun to see her and hear first had about her engagement story and all the upcoming wedding plans.

And then over Memorial Day my mom and I spent a long weekend in West Palm Beach, FL with our family friend Mary Allen. She has cancer and is recovering a bit from being in the hospital. It was great to see her and help her cook, clean, grocery shop, and just in general encourage her to keep her eyes on the Lord during this trial.

The following weekend My mom, sister Laura, and I drove to Indianapolis for Kerry's bridal shower. Here is a picture of all the cousins - Madeline, Kathleen, Kerry (with Madeline's daughter Maya), Amy, me, and Laura.

And here is a picture of all the aunts - Aunt Carol, mom, Aunt Mary Joyce, Aunt Patty.

I also got the chance to see my friend Sarah and her new baby Archie! So cute! And Mike and Sarah love being parents so that is exciting.

It was also super exciting to see Lisa for a quick visit when she came down from Duluth. This is a picture of Heather, Mandi, Lisa, and me.Her puppy Dudas also came down and we figured out that his eyes look like light bulbs when you use a flas at night!

And my Bible study group just finished the book of Romans which was such a huge accomplishment given that it was 119 lessons! So of course we went out to dinner to celebrate. It is always fun to be with Kelly, Kim (baby on the way!), and Erin. So basically that is what has been going on these past 6 weeks . . .