butterflies

for some reason i have butterflies in my stomach today. i think part of it is because i finally heard my husband's voice since my dad stole him for their fishing trip. i have decided i don't like being a fishing widow! they're on their way home, so i should see matt within several hours - and i can't wait. is that pathetic?

another reason is because i am so incredibly excited for this weekend. my friend, kristin, is getting married and i have the incredible honor of being a bridesmaid. with the excitement, though, comes a little bit of nervousness. i just want to help make the day perfect for kristin and adrian - they definitely deserve it! so i am feeling some pressure - from myself - to make things perfect. i think i get more nervous for making other people's wedding perfect than i was for my own wedding! i am also bringing the maid of honor to the wedding - a big duty. why? well, kristin's sister, amy (maid of honor), has gone through some really tough health problems lately, culminating in surgery last week - yikes! i'm just so glad that she and i both happen to live in rochester so that i can make sure she's taken care of so kristin can worry less about those details right now. i hope we are able to make amy relatively comfortable on the drive so she can keep healing for this weekend! she's been one tough cookie so far, so i hope she can relax and have fun this weekend!

so now i better get moving on getting stuff ready so i don't forget something important - like my dress! would anybody really be surprised, though, if i forgot something like that? i better remember my camera, too, so i can post pictures when we get back!

home

it's been a super long time since i went home - as in to my hometown. this weekend was my first time back since my mom moved to the twin cities, which meant i was sort of homeless. granted, i have the best in-laws in the world and i just stayed at their place, so it was really no big deal.

before i left, my dad came into town and i was able to have dinner with him. i hadn't seen him in a while, and he's been sort of antsy to see me (and matt and my sister) so it was good to spend some time with him. in fact, i spent a little too much time with him and didn't leave rochester until 9:30pm.

the ride home was sort of nightmarish. once i was out of rochester i realized i forgot some of my clothes and had to turn around adding about 30 minutes to the drive. moron! then when i was less than an hour from matt's parents' house, the route we usually take was completely closed off due to construction. it happens to be back roads that aren't on the map, so i struggled to find another route. once i thought i found an alternate route, i got myself a little turned around (at 2am) and didn't really know where i was going. after swerving around 6 raccoons in the road, nearly hitting about 6 more raccoons and at least 4 deer, and hitting too many sudden fog patches that limit my visibility to about 10 feet, i decided it was time to find a major highway again. thankfully i made it "home" safe and sound!

the next morning was erin's shower. erin is the older sister of my dear friend (and matron of honor), chrissy. their family is essentially my extended family because i have spent so much time with them since i met chrissy on the second day of kindergarten. anyway, erin is going to be an incredibly gorgeous bride in less than 2 weeks. it was so great to see her at her shower seeing as how she's been living in australia for the past 3 years! she met the love of her life, brett, while she was there on a work visa. since then, she has gone to grad school there to continue pursuing her music career (she has an AMAZING voice!). now, she and her aussie beau will be permantently living in perth, australia. i guess i will just have to go and visit!

the bride- and groom-to-be at the shower:

after the shower, i went to visit my mom's old neighbor, sue (aka susie), who is a second mom to me. i love her dearly and it's hard to believe she's not our neighbor anymore, but it was awesome to just hang out with her (and her husband, tom, and new puppy, jake). we sat and talked about everything, and as usual, susie was so supportive of me. she always makes me feel so loved - i wish she could have been a mother herself. she's been an amazing second mom to me and would have been an amazing mom to her own kids! instead she's a great mom to this little guy: (sorry my actual mother takes blurry pictures, but i bet you can still tell that little jake is adorable as can be!)

the rest of saturday was spent catching up a little bit with my friends jenny and chrissy, as well as chrissy and erin's family. it was truly a wonderful day.

sunday i spent the day hanging out with matt's parents. i taught them how to make omelets in the morning - they had never made them before! - and the rest of the day we just relaxed. matt and i swapped dads for fathers day. my dad and matt are away on a fishing trip in north dakota for a week. you can check out the guide service they're with here: http://www.vanhookguideservice.com/ on the left of the page you can see a picture of two of my cousins' husbands (larry and tim) on a fishing trip with my dad a previous year. it says they're the rollmanns, but in reality neither of them has rollmann as a last name :)

sunday night i drove chrissy to eau claire and hung out at her place for a bit eating fresh strawberries (yum!) and chatting with chrissy and her hubby, lance. it felt so good to hang out with the two of them, and i absolutely loved having chrissy with me for most of the drive home!

then home it was to my lonely little apartment, where i discovered our air conditioner has something wrong with it...so the heat is getting a little unbearable. yet another reason i am missing my fix-it hubby while he's off having fun with my dad, cousin and uncle!

ms150

okay...so the ms150 was a bit disappointing for me. i came down with the flu on wednesday before the ride and only made it 40 of the 150 miles. maybe i will try again next year. stan, on the other hand, rode with me (and my sister and her boyfriend/my friend, mitch) and did an amazing job. he got to the last rest stop and called to let me know he was almost done. shortly after that he called to tell me he'd gotten a flat...5 miles from the finish line! he ended up having to take one of the support vans to the end and never did get to cross the finish line - all because somebody had intentionally poured nails all over the path. apparently there were quite a few people who ended up in stan's position that day - so sad!

mitch, sarah, me and stan before we started:

the four of us at one of the gorgeous spots along the trail:

stan with his "ms champion" and her husband:

stan and i on day 1 (yes, i know i look ridiculous):

tagged!

okay, okay...so i've been a super bad blogger, but i just realized that cassi tagged me. so here it goes:

4 jobs i've held:

1. taco bell - i loved working at tb believe it or not. all of us were like family there. in fact, it's where i met matt, and my dear friend andrea, who also married a fellow tb employee, justin. they were married about a month after us. andrea and justin even went to taco bell for a few pictures on their wedding day! we met up with them and one of the bridesmaids (who also worked with us) to take the picture you see below - evidence that we are crazy!

2. shawano sports park - it's a little place behind the local a&w drive-up that has mini (aka putt-putt) golf, batting cages and go-karts. it was not the greatest job in the world, but at least i got to spend some time outside - even if it was mostly picking up cigarrette butts and pulling weeds.
3. a&w carhop - loved this job, too. it was fun to work outside and have friendly customers and one fun fellow carhop, kristin - and of course, the rootbeer is to die for - even if it does have 40lbs of sugar per batch and gets mixed in a giant garbage pail!
4. schizophrenia research - inspiring and disheartening work all in the same package.

4 movies i could watch over and over:

i honestly don't think i can answer this question. i'm not a huge movie person, and my favorite/most memorable movies are movies i would prefer not to watch over and over. here they are:
1. american history x: probably the most graphic movie i've ever seen, but it was extremely well done with an incredibly powerful message. i recommend this movie to everybody - just be prepared if you have a weak stomach.
2. stepmom: this movie made me bawl my eyes out, but i loved it anyway.
3. monster's inc. - okay, so i can watch this one over and over. i love pixar's movies. i even like the little pixar lamp guy.

4. finding nemo - another pixar movie i could watch over and over again. in fact, i dressed up as nemo for halloween one year. my friends karen and beth dressed up as dory and crush (the sea turtle) with me.

4 places i have lived
i seriously have to stretch this one - it's really only 3 places (how sad!)

1. wescott, wi (a township just outside of shawano) until i was 7
2. shawano, wi (my whole life really) - a small (as in 8,000 people) town near green bay (about 4 hours north of chicago, 4 hours east of minneapolis/st paul, mn)
3. madison, wi - oh how i miss madison - go badgers!!!!
4. rochester, mn - enough said

4 categories of tv programming i enjoy:
1. documentaries - i love 'on demand'
2. games - i'm sort of combining 2 categories - i love almost any game show, especially wheel of fortune (yeah cassi!) and family feud - but i also love sports, especially the badgers and packers!
3. crime shows - matt and i watch court tv way too much, and i'm addicted to prison break, which we can put in this category, right?
4. reality tv - we're so pathetic, ladies! i do love "little people, big world" and "extreme makeover: home edition"

4 places i've been on holiday:
1. Europe
- france/england with french club in high school - pure craziness
- ireland with high school orchestra - i just loved playing in the irish castles and pubs. what a riot! my rebellious side definitely came out on that trip
- germany/denmark/holland backpacking with my sister to celebrate her college graduation
2. alaska on a cruise with my dad - i highly recommend an alaskan cruise to anybody. i loved it even as a 12 year-old!
3. florida - most recently with matt during spring break senior year - our first real vacation together and matt's first time on a plane, believe it or not
4. jamaica - on our honeymoon - i'd go back in a heartbeat

us being goofy in line for the shrek ride in florida:4 of my favorite dishes:
1. anything mexican (including, you guessed it, taco bell - even though it's not "real" mexican)
2. guacamole - i often eat it for dinner. yes, i know that's weird.
3. anything with angelhair pasta - ask matt, i'm weird about my pasta

4. tombstone pizza - i used to eat an entire one myself when i came home from school. my mom tried to convince me that i would get to the point that i would never eat another one again. i'm still proving her wrong :)

4 websites i visit daily:
1. blogs, of course - yes, i know this means i should be better at my own blog!
2. news websites - i am such a news junky!
3. google - i use google's "define:" function for just about everything!
4. mayo med school calendar - i never know what class i'm supposed to be in or where it's at!

4 places i would rather be right now:
1. somewhere with matt
2. in a nicer apartment
3. in the woods/on the water
4. madison

so there you have it. i don't think there's anybody left for me to tag...so enjoy!

D-O-N-E!!!!

you have no idea how good it feels to be done. if anybody out there is reading this and is still studying, the end is near. you will feel human again - i promise. it is just insane how un-human-like you feel after studying for so long. i left my apartment very few times over the past month, but tonight, after taking a post-exam-nap, matt and i went out and just drove around for a while. it was nice to be out in the soothing rain just hanging out and being together - without having to feel guilty about not studying.

so what's next?

the spa! i am heading to the spa tomorrow and can't wait! matt had gotten me a package at lasata salon for christmas, and i knew i wanted to save it for "the day after." we even added a few treatments so starting at 11 am (yay! i can sleep in!) i will be getting some sort of body treatment that matt scheduled, then a facial and a massage followed by a haircut. after a short break to eat, my pampering will be complete with a pedicure and a manicure. you have no idea how excited i am. it is going to be a wonderful day!

until then, hopefully i will be able to sleep without jumping awake every 30 minutes trying to figure out which enzyme catalyzes a particular step in a biochem pathway or what the mechanism of a particular drug is...hopefully those nightmares are over!

good night.

we have a graduate!

well folks, after 6 years matt has finally graduated! the picture is of our mini little celebration that we had here - just the two of us.

matthew, i am so proud of you for sticking to your guns and finishing your degree - especially with all the hoops you had to jump through to get it! i am so grateful that you came with me to rochester despite the fact that it meant you having to commute a gazillion miles every week and add another year to your schooling! i don't know what i would do without you here at my side. i love you tons, and i am so very proud of you! congratulations!

2 more happies

i know, i know. i said i wasn't going to post, but i have 2 happy things to post. first thing: how cute is this kid?!?!?! i just can't get over how adorable he is taking his little bath! he's my dear friend mandi's little guy named tucker. i will never forget mandi's parents telling me at my wedding that mandi had been in tears all morning convinced she would make the 4-hour-drive to our wedding despite the fact that she was having contractions. her parents wisely convinced her it was best to stay home, and cutie little tucker was born 4 days later. although it was really sad to not have dear mandi at our wedding, i am so happy that she is being such an incredible mom to such an adorable little kid!

second thing: please go to this website and post a story of sharing.
http://www.spreadthesharing.com/StoriesofSharing/
for every story shared, country crock will donate a meal (up to a million meals) to america's second harvest (a national foodbank network). a "meal" consists of "20 pounds of food and grocery products like cereal, fruit, bath soap, and diapers delivered to families in need." you can share as many stories as you'd like. let's go help some people in need!