Well hello everyone! I predict this to be the last official update until June :) As many of you know the wedding planning and preparation is in full swing. If anyone didn't receive and invite and is going to be around Reedsburg May 30th by all means you ARE invited and should contact me for more info! :) Our actual ceremony in Utah is coming up in a mere 5 weeks. Considering I still have a couple of final exams and many hours at work between now and then, it still seems pretty far off...until I consider all of the details that still need to be coordinated. Eeee!
Work at TOSH has had its ups and downs, however since January 1st it's been generally "crazy busy" which may in part explain my lack of updates. We recently helped a doctoral student from U of M complete data collection for her dissertation characterizinig bone geometry, strength, and gait characteristics of female runners with a history of stress fractures; we also had a group of 10 elite amputee sprinters in from all over the country sprint on the force treadmill to better understand their gait mechanics and whether the prosthetic has any sort of advantage over an intact limb. Very interesting stuff to say the least. No results yet, but I'm cranking through a ton of motion analysis data. We also had a special data collection with Levi Leipheimer...for anyone who doesn't know the name, he was 3rd in the Tour de France in 2007 and has won the Tour de California several times...anyways I'm always amazed at the attention elite athletes have to endure. By the time the amputee sprinters (some of whom ran in Beijing) and Levi came through the lab within weeks of one another, and we had our annual open house for the hospital, I realized I have no love of newspersons or photographers of any sort.
The weather has warmed a bit (between snowstorms) long enough for some spring yard-work to begin. A few weekends ago while Jason was on a caving trip, I dug up the front yard (literally dug it up with a shovel) and reseeded the lawn. Not to worry, our front lawn doesn't have much grass. Last weekend we also replaced all the bark in the front lawn flowerbeds and used the ancient bark to mulch a few places including the back flowerbeds and around the raspberry bushes. The fish made their yearly move from the storage tote in the basement back to their outside pond and it proceeded to snow for a week. I'm not sure what they thought of snow after being in the warm basement all winter, but they still look relatively happy. (I only had to break a hole in the ice with my shoe for them one morning).
Jason and I have also made it out for a couple of hiking trips generally involving steep climbs and beautiful views. Of note, I successfully repelled into and ascended out of a cave which was a first for me. I thought the repelling and ascending were more fun than the actual cave exploring, but it was a wonderful trip out to the west desert for the weekend.
KTP became the first official "guest" to sleep in the "guestroom". It's all finished now and looks quite nice. Jason's sister Autumn has stayed there a few times, but usually on short notice, and she usually sleeps on top of the unmade bed. :) If anyone needs an actual user review before visiting they will need to speak with KTP. It was her second trip to Utah since I've lived here, which also makes her the first repeat visitor outside of my immediate family (unless I've tragically forgotten someone else). It was fun to catch up. Anyone who is feeling guilty for not visiting (you know who you are)...should plan a trip out this way sometime after the wedding. :)
Now the biggest news of all...Jason and I adopted a cat! She's a one year old orange tabby polydactyl and her name is Kiki. We were planning on waiting until after the wedding since we will be gone for a couple of weeks--however--I happened upon her by chance and when we saw what a sweet cat she was and what terrible conditions she was living in we knew we could give her a much better home. Jason's cousins have even offered to cat-sit while we are out of town, which will be wonderful! Anyone who isn't familiar with polydactyls can read up on them here: http://www.messybeast.com/poly-cats.html Jason is still deciding if getting a cat was a good idea...so far he knows I'm ridiculously excited about it--rumor has it my first real word was kitty...at least someone told me that once...so what else would you expect?
I think I've gone on long enough and I know I'm surely missing things but this is at least a partial update. For anyone on facebook, check out my profile for more pictures of fun happenings and the full story of how we ended up with Kiki.
I look forward to seeing many of you soon and hope everyone is well!
Steph~
ps. Welcome Evelyn and Dane! New babies all around!
