Study Aids

The dogs are not very conducive to studying electrophysiology of the heart...
First Lucy...


Then Linus...


Then A Forced Study Break...

Windchill -1F

Love the Midwest!

65 & Sunny

It was beautiful today! Mike & I took advantage of the awesome weather and class getting out at 3pm to go for a run. We definitely weren't the only ones. Although it's supposed to be a high of 30F tomorrow, I'm still glad we had the teaser day today. I can't wait until it's warm daily...probably not for a while, it is only January.
I have a two quizzes, two papers, three assignments and an exam this week, so...back to studying!

Frozen Lake Hike

We hope the cold streak broke a little for the "Northerners" in Wisconsin. Last we heard it was -11...Brrr! After a week in the low single digits it was a balmy 54F here so we decided to take a break from studying (And The Fireplace!) and head out to Thousand Hills State Park to hike while we could.
The dogs were REALLY excited to get out and play in the open spaces as well. Aside from some short walks around town (literally) they really needed some outside time, as did we! We walked around part of Forest Lake, then thought "Why not just walk ON the lake?". The ice was at least a foot thick so we took a couple of picture of us and the dogs. The tilted photo is due to the lack of anything to set the camera on since we were in the middle of the lake! We ended up walking all the way across the lake since it was so thick. Before you freak out, we were very careful to check the thickness first. The ice was so clear you could see frozen leaves on the bottom of it, and cracks from the freeze/thaw cycles. It was pretty fun...:)


We also took a panorama of the lake while we were standing the in the middle of it...kind of neat to say that...:) You can click on the picture below to go to my album, then click the magnifying glass to see a larger, more detailed image. I haven't figured out how to link directly to the large image yet..

Boredom Has It's Downfalls

We didn't think Lucy looked stupid enough so we put a scarf on her...:)

THE 3 STAGES OF HUMILIATION:
1.) Bribery/Solicitation:


2.) FEAR:


And Finally...
3.) Acceptance:


If dogs had a Supreme Court, I think we would be executed for Cruel & Unusual Punishment...:)

Husker Land

OK...I'm Lazy! I am finally getting around to posting some pictures from our trip to Nebraska to see Tim, Allison, & Nate; affectionately known as T n' A...:)

Nate thought it would be nice to get Lucy a stuffed squirrel to play with all weekend. Well we didn't get a before image...but the squirrel only lasted 9 minutes (we were timing). Here Lucy continues to punish the squirrel for crimes unknown, and Linus surveys the carnage:


Linus is his own ball of crazy. Since T & A have nice leather couches, the dogs were not allowed on them, which confused the hell out of them since they pretty much have the run of our house. Linus found a pile of pillows & blankets next to the couch to use as his Throne:


But whenever one of us sat on the floor they migrated to us and wouldn't leave us alone. You would think after 30-some hours in the car over break, they'd be sick of us! But No, they can't get close enough to us sometimes...


Tim was showing off his awesome "Grainger Branch Manager" vest that Nate bought him (with company money of course). All the other employees got nice sweatshirts for working in the warehouse when it's cold, but since Tim is a manager, he really doesn't "work" per se. We figured as rediculous as he looked (more so than normal), he would look even better holding a scared Linus with a "popped" collar. Don't they look precious!?


We hope to head back and see them, or catch up with them over the summer if we can find a time for everyone to meet up. Thanks again T n' A, for having us up! Here's to bringing Sexy Back:

:P

Meep-Meep-Meep

I've told most everyone I've talked to since X-Mas, but for those I missed I wanted to let you know that I got accepted into KCOM's Masters of Biomedical Sciences program, starting in March! I am really excited to move ahead with my education.
I asked for special admission in the middle of the year, and I will be joining the class that graduates in 2009. So instead of a 2 year program, I'll be in a slightly accelerated 1.5 year program. I'll be working with Dr. Vineet Singh (who is from MCW in Milwaukee) on characterizing 2 genes (SigB & dnak) in the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus. I worked on the project when I started as a research tech, but I am able to continue it for my thesis, so the last 4 months have not been for naught.
If you don't recognize the character to the left, it's Beaker from the Muppet Show. The title of this post is the only sound beaker makes. I make no apologies for knowing that...:P

Thomas!

I spent the day with Debora, Thomas, Cibele, & Avo (portuguese for Grandma) last Wednesday. It was a blast, snuggling babies is so much fun! And he's adorable:) Here are a couple of pictures from that day but I was too busy snuggling to take very many and since he mostly slept I didn't get any video.

Josh, Debora, & Thomas have started their own blog so for more pictures of the cutie click on the link in the sidebar.

On The Road Again

We just got back from a really great visit to Lincoln, Nebraska to see our friends Tim & Allison and Nate. We also got a visit from Uncle Jack Daniels as well...:) We ate at a great Thai restaurant called Blue Orchid, and if you are ever in Lincoln, we HIGHLY recommend it! Tim & Allison were nice enough to let us bring the dogs. Lucy loved their back yard and Nate even brought over a nice black squirrel that Lucy took only 9 minuted to destroy (pictures to come). We had a great fondue night on Friday, and then went and worked it off at Allison's gym on Saturday. Mara worked out, and Tim, Nate & I played cutthroat racquetball for an hour and a half. It was great to see them again since we hadn't been to Lincoln for almost 2 years!
Well, Mara starts back at school tomorrow, bright & early at 6am. It's been a really great vacation the last 2 weeks. We were able to see almost everyone we wanted to, but we did pay the price. According to Google Maps, we spent about 41 hours in the car over the course of 2,285 miles!!! I feel like a truck driver putting all of those miles on! It was well worth it though!!! The dogs went trough most of it with us too, and I bet they won't be so excited next time we ask "Do you wanna go for a ride?".

Here is a rough map of our driving expedition:

View Larger Map

Congratulations Josh & Debora!

Thomas Costa Bacon was born on Friday, December 28th and he is ADORABLE. Mike & I stopped by on Monday, December 31st to meet the newest of our nephews (3 in 1 year!!!). He is a sweetie! He is a boy of many faces and I even caught the Bacon Scowl. Great-Grandma Bacon would be so proud! I can't wait to stop by and see them again later this week. I'll post more pictures then and hopefully a video.
Holly & Dan Bacon are the very proud grandparents and Sally, Scott, & Sam can't wait to meet Sam's 1st cousin! Check out Sally's blog for more pictures of Thomas.

Another Road Trip, Another 1100+ Miles In The Car

Larry & Deb & Grandma Syring were supposed to come to see us the Saturday before X-Mas, but with the bad weather they couldn't make it, and ended up taking Grandma to Appleton for the week. Then we were going to spend the 27th-30th with Chris & Shell in Joliet, IL, but with an approaching storm on the 28th, we canceled the plans. Mara and I really like Kirksville, when we're busy. When we have time to kill, we end up looking for things to do, but you can only take so many trips to Wal-Mart! We decided that we could leave early on Thursday and beat the storm, and head up to Appleton so Grandma could get her "X-mas miracle". So we loaded our dogs up and headed out for Appleton, about 8 hours away. We are SO glad our dogs travel so well! We were able to surprise Grandma and Larry who were laying on the floor playing with Jackson, but the best was when Deb came home from work:

After a nice dinner and some conversation, we headed back to Chris & Shell's. Our dogs got to see their cousins again! They were so geeked up to see each other it was hilarious. We took the dogs to Baird's Creek by Chris & Shell's house and let them run for a while on Friday & Saturday. They all looked like they needed the time to run outdoors:


I think it's safe to say we succeeded in utterly exhausting our dogs. Those are Linus' hind legs stretched all the way up to his chest, and that is Gabee's legs by her face!


On Sunday morning we made the trip down to Milwaukee to stay with Pete & Beth, where Linus & Lucy got to see their dogs Tanner & Fala also. We also went out to Nikki & Crawford's to have dinner and catch up with them and Christy & Jerad also. Lucy & Linus got to play with Nikki's dog CoCo, and their cats (Bob, Stan, Sue, Tigger, & Wilbur). It was really nice of Nikki & Crawford to put on such a great meal on such short notice! Crawford's curries are the best!
Before we left on Monday we made sure to stop over to see Laurel & Elton & Austin. It was great to see them, and Austin is so full of piss & vinegar! He got his strength back quickly, and now is so full of energy!!! He did insist on a picture with Mara, but it had to have the vacuum in it as well...:) He is also one of the kids featured in the MACC Fund Children's Calendar for the month of March. If you need a calendar for this year, this is a great charity to get it from!

After a quick lunch at our favorite Indian buffet with Rebecca, Tina, Jason, Pete, & Beth, we headed back towards Kirksville. We did stop at an outlet mall to shop (and walk off some of that Indian food!), and then made a quick stop at Josh & Debora's to see our newest nephew Thomas (He deserves his own post...). We finally made it home around 1am (after leaving Milwaukee at 8am). It was a long trip, but we made it to see EVERYONE we could in Wisconsin (with the exception of Dan & Holly who were visiting their newest grandson). All in all it was about 1100 miles over 5 days, but as always, worth the trip to see so many of our friends & family!

Wisconsin Trip

Here are some more pictures of our trip to Wisconsin, we had so much fun and we're glad we could see so many friends and family in such a short time. We miss everyone but we enjoy our quick trips!