So much news, So much news! I lost my last update (I usually save them) so I don't know where exactly I left off.
Jason and I got engaged in June. If this is new news you may be living under some kind or rock. :) I've been so excited that I'm telling everybody! Since then we've picked out a hall in Utah for the ceremony/reception (www.northamptonhouse.com) a reception place in Wisconsin (www.barabooartsbanquet.com), I found a dress (ivory, corset back...purple accent...alfred angelo 1612) and we got a photographer ( www.dustontodd.com ) and had engagement pictures taken (sample attached). Everything is so very exciting!
This past weekend I entertained/was entertained by my mom and three aunts who visited Utah to help me do some dress shopping (Mom, Ellen, Sue, and Linda). We went to the Bingham Copper Mine (largest open pit mine in North America), peered into the Great Salt Lake, checked out the reception hall, had a picnic with some of Jason's family, ate fabulous food, and went dress shopping. Note to any future brides: DO NOT try on corseted bridal gowns after eating a large meal. That's all I'm going to say about that. Having company was an excellent time although by the end of the weekend I was needing some serious sleep and some quiet time. Also in the Utah visitors section was Kirsten Sauey, a dear friend from high school who I got to have lunch with today as she was en route from Denver, CO to California. It sure it good to catch up with old friends and welcome to the update Kirsten! ;)
The past two weeks at work have been stressful and interesting. I'm either picking my nose or so swamped I can't breathe. The past week was a swamped week, and this one is turning into more of the same. It is nice to be busy, but I'm hoping things let up a little bit before school starts on August 25th. I am trying to gear myself for a tough semester. Instead of my usual 3 days of class per week this semester I will have four. Statistics, Macro-nutrient Metabolism, and Exercise & Disease are on the list. Unfortunately, the Weds/Friday class is from Noon-2 right in the middle of my typical workday. Hopefully scheduling won't get too ugly!
Speaking of August 25th, that will be my last day in my old apartment. For anyone who still keeps an address list, my new address will be 1036S 1500W, Salt Lake City, Utah 84104. We decided it would be best to move my stuff before school starts and it will save me about $700 a month to put towards wedding plans.
In other exciting news, it was three years ago today that a young girl from Wisconsin loaded her worldly possessions into her car and drove them across the wilderness of Nebraska before finally winding along I-80 to the valley of Salt Lake City. That's my fancy way of saying I've now been in Utah for 3 years. Boy time does fly!
I hope you are all doing well wherever your respective lives may find you these days. Please be in touch as I'm always looking for updates from everyone!
Steph~
PS. Jason and his cousin Ben recently discovered the newest cave in Utah and will be revisiting it to do some mapping over Labor Day weekend! We are now taking suggestions for cave names. Please be considerate as caves cannot be named after a person unless that person is deceased. Therefore Stephanie Cave will not be accepted.
PSS. Rusty, I need your cell number so I stop calling Chica by accident.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
St. Pattys? Spring? Easter?
Hello to everyone near and far! It's Spring Break, I made it to this point in the semester and thought I'd send out an e-mail "hello" before I go back to work catching up on homework. :) The semester is flying by! Another 6 weeks and I will be enjoying summer break. Luckily this semester is much better than the last one or I may have reconsidered this grad school thing. This summer I'm planning on sitting in on two undergrad classes which friends are teaching as a good form of review without the cost of tuition (or the worry of missing class). The fall will bring the first half of statistics (oh boy) and a couple of other more reasonable sounding classes. Since I'm still working full-time I'm planning on three more semesters to get done. FYI: I'm now accepting brilliant thesis ideas that will require a reasonable amount of work and make me rich and or famous.
Work is going well. This semester is a much better work/school balance and most days I like my job. Today everything I touched was broken...but most days are better. :) I'm learning some interesting things about what you can do with super glue and a basic set of tools. I've also become proficient with some pretty technical motion analysis software. A few more programs to master and I should be pretty darn useful. ;)
Something struck me as odd today: ice cream trucks...in the desert...in March...with gas prices over $3/gal. That's right, I witnessed two different ice cream trucks out and about this week. Playing the annoying music to lure the little kids away from their televisions to get ice cream. It's rather sad really. The weather in Utah is starting to be warmer (consistently around 50 degrees) and although the snow is gone in the valley the mountains will most likely have snow in places until sometime in July or August. I just bought hiking boots and Jason has a few days off of work, so we are planning our first hiking trip of the season over Easter weekend. We're thinking somewhere in southern Utah, but weather will most likely be a determining factor. We're still deciding whether it's too early in the season to camp out. There are so many amazing places within driving distance it's hard to choose. Jason becomes the official decider since he knows all the options, but I'm excited to go along for the rides.
I'm excited to announce Jason and I will be again visiting WI May 14th-20th. We are tentatively planning to go to the Bodyworks exhibit in Milwaukee on the 15th, so if anyone in that area wants to meet up it would be really fun. We have some loosely constructed travel plans hopefully including a day at Devil's Lake if the weather is nice. It shouldn't be as humid as when we visted last August. With any luck, there will be baby goats on the farm and Mom won't be mowing the lawn around the snowpile anymore. I'll keep you posted as vacation time nears.
As always, if anyone would like to vacation in Salt Lake, do let me know. Until I see you each again take care and be in touch!
Steph~
Miss Lorbecki-I owe you a phone call. Please stalk me until I call you back. I suck. I'm also not certain I spelled your last name correctly..again, same reason.
Carol/Harvey-let me know if you need any Salt Lake info. I don't know if we'll catch up while you're out here because I will be out of town Memorial Day weekend. Let me know if you need anything though! You could stay at my place for cheap if you'd like but it's about a 40minute drive from Layton.
Sarah/Andy-it's time for more pictures of Olivia! Consider this your pre-threat reminder. :)
Larissa/Sarah-if either of you decide you would like more of those long t-shirts/tank-tops let me know and I'll bring some in May
Work is going well. This semester is a much better work/school balance and most days I like my job. Today everything I touched was broken...but most days are better. :) I'm learning some interesting things about what you can do with super glue and a basic set of tools. I've also become proficient with some pretty technical motion analysis software. A few more programs to master and I should be pretty darn useful. ;)
Something struck me as odd today: ice cream trucks...in the desert...in March...with gas prices over $3/gal. That's right, I witnessed two different ice cream trucks out and about this week. Playing the annoying music to lure the little kids away from their televisions to get ice cream. It's rather sad really. The weather in Utah is starting to be warmer (consistently around 50 degrees) and although the snow is gone in the valley the mountains will most likely have snow in places until sometime in July or August. I just bought hiking boots and Jason has a few days off of work, so we are planning our first hiking trip of the season over Easter weekend. We're thinking somewhere in southern Utah, but weather will most likely be a determining factor. We're still deciding whether it's too early in the season to camp out. There are so many amazing places within driving distance it's hard to choose. Jason becomes the official decider since he knows all the options, but I'm excited to go along for the rides.
I'm excited to announce Jason and I will be again visiting WI May 14th-20th. We are tentatively planning to go to the Bodyworks exhibit in Milwaukee on the 15th, so if anyone in that area wants to meet up it would be really fun. We have some loosely constructed travel plans hopefully including a day at Devil's Lake if the weather is nice. It shouldn't be as humid as when we visted last August. With any luck, there will be baby goats on the farm and Mom won't be mowing the lawn around the snowpile anymore. I'll keep you posted as vacation time nears.
As always, if anyone would like to vacation in Salt Lake, do let me know. Until I see you each again take care and be in touch!
Steph~
Miss Lorbecki-I owe you a phone call. Please stalk me until I call you back. I suck. I'm also not certain I spelled your last name correctly..again, same reason.
Carol/Harvey-let me know if you need any Salt Lake info. I don't know if we'll catch up while you're out here because I will be out of town Memorial Day weekend. Let me know if you need anything though! You could stay at my place for cheap if you'd like but it's about a 40minute drive from Layton.
Sarah/Andy-it's time for more pictures of Olivia! Consider this your pre-threat reminder. :)
Larissa/Sarah-if either of you decide you would like more of those long t-shirts/tank-tops let me know and I'll bring some in May
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Happy New Years!
Hello All!
So it's 2008. I thought I would start the year off with an update email before I start school next week and drop from the planet once again. Hopefully school won't cause quite as much stress this semester as it did last semester. Word from everyone in the department is that the first semester is one of the more labor-intensive and the second semester gets easier. My two night classes are earlier this semester which is nice for a couple of reasons; namely I will not have class until 10pm and I will be prevented from working dreadfully long days at work (since I will need to leave work earlier to get to class). I will also continue to have a Thursday lab class in the middle of the day. Jason is expected to have more overtime this time of the year (tax season) so he's only taking one class this semester (lucky bugger!).
The holidays were great! I flew to WI on Dec 18th to see friends and family. I managed travel to see my brother's apartment in Platteville, and Sarah and Olivia (a.k.a. "baby in charge") in Dubuque, before family Christmas at my parents on the 22nd. Traveling was limited by a snow/windstorm on the 23rd. It was the first serious snowday I've had since leaving WI. Unfortunately I didn't get to make it to have lunch with La, Mark, Sarah, Andy, and Olivia but it was also nice to be snowed in and forced to relax for the day. Thankfully I was not included in the snow removal activities that kept my dad and brother working double-time all day around the farm. I flew back home to Salt Lake Christmas Eve (the day after the storm). I picked perfect travel days. Several people on my flight out of Chicago were not so lucky and had been stuck in O'Hare for over 24 hours due to the storm, adding insult to injury, most of them were heading TO Christmas instead of back like I was. It was snowing pretty heavily in Salt Lake during the return flight and they only had one runway open (while clearing snow on the others), so we had to slow our airspeed to not get stuck circling Salt Lake. All told I returned to Salt Lake about 30 minutes behind schedule. Not Bad.
The week of Christmas was a whirlwind. I spent Christmas day with Jason and his family. It was wonderful. They even got me presents. I felt like sort of a shmuck since I wasn't expecting anything and hadn't gotten them anything. I will know better for future holidays. We opened presents at his parents house and then had dinner at his aunt and uncle's house around 6. The next night (Wednesday) there was a "Groom's Dinner" preceeding Jason's sister's wedding on Thursday. As best as I can describe, the groom's dinner/family dinner is a "rehearsal dinner" without the rehearsal.--since the wedding is in the temple, there is no audience participation. The following night it was another 45 minute drive back to Orem for the wedding reception. A mormon wedding reception typically consists of a line to meet/greet the couple and their parents, a place to drop off gifts, and hors d'oeuvres. Jason informed me this was a high-end cultural hall wedding--nice decorations, decent appetizers, a short program including some singing and speeches, and a bit of music at the end (although only about a dozen people danced). Just for comparison, it would have been a fairly small-scale midwestern wedding. The cultural hall is basically a big metting room attatched to most mormon churches. The two I've been in look like a gymnasium complete with basketball hoops, a stage, and hardwood flooring (picture Webb middle school's gym only slightly smaller). So after flying in on Monday the 24th there were three trips to Orem in three days for Christmas and wedding activities--no wonder it took me until today to get unpacked and caught back up. :)
I hope I get to see everyone on one of my next trips back to WI. Right now it's looking like that will be Spring/early summer. I may even twist Jason's arm and bring him with again. He seemed to have fun last time. Hope you all had wonderful holidays!
Steph~
ps. I attached two pictures of Jason and I from Misty's reception...if any friends/family are interested in having one :)
So it's 2008. I thought I would start the year off with an update email before I start school next week and drop from the planet once again. Hopefully school won't cause quite as much stress this semester as it did last semester. Word from everyone in the department is that the first semester is one of the more labor-intensive and the second semester gets easier. My two night classes are earlier this semester which is nice for a couple of reasons; namely I will not have class until 10pm and I will be prevented from working dreadfully long days at work (since I will need to leave work earlier to get to class). I will also continue to have a Thursday lab class in the middle of the day. Jason is expected to have more overtime this time of the year (tax season) so he's only taking one class this semester (lucky bugger!).
The holidays were great! I flew to WI on Dec 18th to see friends and family. I managed travel to see my brother's apartment in Platteville, and Sarah and Olivia (a.k.a. "baby in charge") in Dubuque, before family Christmas at my parents on the 22nd. Traveling was limited by a snow/windstorm on the 23rd. It was the first serious snowday I've had since leaving WI. Unfortunately I didn't get to make it to have lunch with La, Mark, Sarah, Andy, and Olivia but it was also nice to be snowed in and forced to relax for the day. Thankfully I was not included in the snow removal activities that kept my dad and brother working double-time all day around the farm. I flew back home to Salt Lake Christmas Eve (the day after the storm). I picked perfect travel days. Several people on my flight out of Chicago were not so lucky and had been stuck in O'Hare for over 24 hours due to the storm, adding insult to injury, most of them were heading TO Christmas instead of back like I was. It was snowing pretty heavily in Salt Lake during the return flight and they only had one runway open (while clearing snow on the others), so we had to slow our airspeed to not get stuck circling Salt Lake. All told I returned to Salt Lake about 30 minutes behind schedule. Not Bad.
The week of Christmas was a whirlwind. I spent Christmas day with Jason and his family. It was wonderful. They even got me presents. I felt like sort of a shmuck since I wasn't expecting anything and hadn't gotten them anything. I will know better for future holidays. We opened presents at his parents house and then had dinner at his aunt and uncle's house around 6. The next night (Wednesday) there was a "Groom's Dinner" preceeding Jason's sister's wedding on Thursday. As best as I can describe, the groom's dinner/family dinner is a "rehearsal dinner" without the rehearsal.--since the wedding is in the temple, there is no audience participation. The following night it was another 45 minute drive back to Orem for the wedding reception. A mormon wedding reception typically consists of a line to meet/greet the couple and their parents, a place to drop off gifts, and hors d'oeuvres. Jason informed me this was a high-end cultural hall wedding--nice decorations, decent appetizers, a short program including some singing and speeches, and a bit of music at the end (although only about a dozen people danced). Just for comparison, it would have been a fairly small-scale midwestern wedding. The cultural hall is basically a big metting room attatched to most mormon churches. The two I've been in look like a gymnasium complete with basketball hoops, a stage, and hardwood flooring (picture Webb middle school's gym only slightly smaller). So after flying in on Monday the 24th there were three trips to Orem in three days for Christmas and wedding activities--no wonder it took me until today to get unpacked and caught back up. :)
I hope I get to see everyone on one of my next trips back to WI. Right now it's looking like that will be Spring/early summer. I may even twist Jason's arm and bring him with again. He seemed to have fun last time. Hope you all had wonderful holidays!
Steph~
ps. I attached two pictures of Jason and I from Misty's reception...if any friends/family are interested in having one :)
Monday, December 3, 2007
Happy Holidays Everyone!
I wanted to send out a quick note before I am overtaken by finals this week and Christmas break is right on top of me. I'm going to be visiting WI Dec 18th-24th. I will be tryinig to see as many of you as possible (so this is your warning to hide). I especially appreciate those of you who track me down while I am home to visit, I look forward to seeing each and every one of you. So far I have plans for a family christmas, a haircut, and meeting Olivia (Sarah and Andy...if you could forward this to Olivia that would be spectacular). I hope everyone is doing well with school, work, and the holidays. Please be in touch whenever you get the chance...I promise I've been thinking about calling many of you, it's just with homework and working full-time I'm afraid I'm usually crankier than any person would reasonably accept a phonecall from :) Hopefully I will be able to touch base with everyone once again over break! Take Care!
Steph~
Steph~
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Quarterly Update
Hey all,
So as the title of this e-mail may imply, I've given up on monthly updates for now. At least for the duration of graduate school it appears I'll be lucky to send quarterly, or perhaps seasonal updates.
Speaking of seasons....(did you catch that lame transition?)...today in Salt Lake it was about 40 degrees and raining all day...at least all day when it wasn't sleeting, there was a bit of that as well. The low tonight is supposed to be 32 in the valley and I'm sure the mountains got a healthy dose of snow today. It should be beautiful in the morning once it's sunny again and the clouds clear out in front of the mountains. It snowed up there for the first time about a week ago, but it didn't stay. This batch probably won't stay around either, since tomorrow and the rest of the week the temps are supposed to be back in the mid-60's to low-70's in the valley again.
The rain made today a nice day to stay inside, sit under a blanket, and read for school. I also did a ton of cooking today...let's just say I'm trying to make sure Jason and I aren't stuck eating hotdogs and soup every night after class. His freezer looks like someone just threw a tupperware party. The cooking also helped break up the homework a bit.
School is going as well as can be expected while working 40 hours a week. I get my first actual exam back on Tuesday. My lab class is really relaxed, and I haven't gotten any graded assignments back yet. The class that is most frustrating right now is Advanced Exercise Physiology lecture. Our professor decided to revamp her teaching style this semester to a very non-traditional format where we teach each other the information, and we are the test-subjects. Today I spent hours upon hours reading 60 pages worth of journal articles all in order to take a 6 point quiz. I have two textbooks for the class that I haven't even opened, due to the fact that my group (the class is divided into 4 groups) hasn't had any assigned readings from the text. I hope we are all graded generously, as the class has the definite feel that no one really knows what's going on, and I'm not certain I'm learning anything. I like the general idea, but the cellular chemistry is a bit over my head, and it's frustrating to try to teach it to each other. Jason tends to laugh at my reading assignments, with all the words he hasn't seen before and can't pronounce. I think I'm going to kick some serious butt at scrabble the next time I play...that is if I can come up with any exercise physiology terms that only use 7 letters.
What has happened since the last update...well Jason and I visted WI in August so he could meet more of the friends and family. He's even mentioned a willingness to visit again, so things must have gone alright. A special thanks to everyone who was so welcoming, I think we both had a lot of fun. Within 10 days of returning from vacation we both started grad school. I'm now working on my Master's in Exercise Physiology and Jason is working on his MBA. Everything is BUSY. Quite frankly I'm tired of doing homework all weekend and looking forward to fall break in a week (the equivalent to spring break for anyone who hasn't heard of fall break before).
Jason bought a house here in Salt Lake which is very nice. Ironically enough he put in the initial offer while on vacation with me in WI so it was lucky everything worked out so well! It has a great kitchen (especially compared with my apartment), it's in a quiet neighborhood (very nice for studying), and is free of the distractions of my house (namely a television or stereo). :)
Recently, I bought a laptop with my extra student loan money. I love it! I'm using the wireless internet to write this update from bed right now...which is one of the reasons it's getting done :). Thank goodness for student loans...otherwise money would be tight until work reimburses my tuition at the end of the semester (provided I pass). :)
Upcoming plans involve homework and more homework. In a few weeks Jason and I are going to try to take a trip to Jackson if the weather holds out long enough. It could be pretty snowy there in a few weeks, so we'll have to wait and see. I'm still trying to figure out when my next trip back to the midwest will be--if I'm not home at Christmas, I'll be making the trip back during Spring Break. Planning around school has added a new level of difficulty to my visits!
I hope everyone reading this is doing very well. I'm sorry I haven't done a better job of keeping in touch lately. I hope to hear a little from each of you so I know what everyone else is keeping busy with as well. Take Care!
Steph~
ps.
Sarah/Andy...I want updated pregnancy pictures. (I'm laying the floor throwing a fit right now, thrashing arms and legs and everything)
Mark-Congrats again on the Ironman finish!
Steven and Mary...Congrats on the new addition to the family (I haven't seen any pictures yet...he's not an ugly little bugger who takes after his daddy is he?)
Does anyone have an actual working e-mail address for Russell?
If anyone didn't catch it, my not-so-new cellphone number is
So as the title of this e-mail may imply, I've given up on monthly updates for now. At least for the duration of graduate school it appears I'll be lucky to send quarterly, or perhaps seasonal updates.
Speaking of seasons....(did you catch that lame transition?)...today in Salt Lake it was about 40 degrees and raining all day...at least all day when it wasn't sleeting, there was a bit of that as well. The low tonight is supposed to be 32 in the valley and I'm sure the mountains got a healthy dose of snow today. It should be beautiful in the morning once it's sunny again and the clouds clear out in front of the mountains. It snowed up there for the first time about a week ago, but it didn't stay. This batch probably won't stay around either, since tomorrow and the rest of the week the temps are supposed to be back in the mid-60's to low-70's in the valley again.
The rain made today a nice day to stay inside, sit under a blanket, and read for school. I also did a ton of cooking today...let's just say I'm trying to make sure Jason and I aren't stuck eating hotdogs and soup every night after class. His freezer looks like someone just threw a tupperware party. The cooking also helped break up the homework a bit.
School is going as well as can be expected while working 40 hours a week. I get my first actual exam back on Tuesday. My lab class is really relaxed, and I haven't gotten any graded assignments back yet. The class that is most frustrating right now is Advanced Exercise Physiology lecture. Our professor decided to revamp her teaching style this semester to a very non-traditional format where we teach each other the information, and we are the test-subjects. Today I spent hours upon hours reading 60 pages worth of journal articles all in order to take a 6 point quiz. I have two textbooks for the class that I haven't even opened, due to the fact that my group (the class is divided into 4 groups) hasn't had any assigned readings from the text. I hope we are all graded generously, as the class has the definite feel that no one really knows what's going on, and I'm not certain I'm learning anything. I like the general idea, but the cellular chemistry is a bit over my head, and it's frustrating to try to teach it to each other. Jason tends to laugh at my reading assignments, with all the words he hasn't seen before and can't pronounce. I think I'm going to kick some serious butt at scrabble the next time I play...that is if I can come up with any exercise physiology terms that only use 7 letters.
What has happened since the last update...well Jason and I visted WI in August so he could meet more of the friends and family. He's even mentioned a willingness to visit again, so things must have gone alright. A special thanks to everyone who was so welcoming, I think we both had a lot of fun. Within 10 days of returning from vacation we both started grad school. I'm now working on my Master's in Exercise Physiology and Jason is working on his MBA. Everything is BUSY. Quite frankly I'm tired of doing homework all weekend and looking forward to fall break in a week (the equivalent to spring break for anyone who hasn't heard of fall break before).
Jason bought a house here in Salt Lake which is very nice. Ironically enough he put in the initial offer while on vacation with me in WI so it was lucky everything worked out so well! It has a great kitchen (especially compared with my apartment), it's in a quiet neighborhood (very nice for studying), and is free of the distractions of my house (namely a television or stereo). :)
Recently, I bought a laptop with my extra student loan money. I love it! I'm using the wireless internet to write this update from bed right now...which is one of the reasons it's getting done :). Thank goodness for student loans...otherwise money would be tight until work reimburses my tuition at the end of the semester (provided I pass). :)
Upcoming plans involve homework and more homework. In a few weeks Jason and I are going to try to take a trip to Jackson if the weather holds out long enough. It could be pretty snowy there in a few weeks, so we'll have to wait and see. I'm still trying to figure out when my next trip back to the midwest will be--if I'm not home at Christmas, I'll be making the trip back during Spring Break. Planning around school has added a new level of difficulty to my visits!
I hope everyone reading this is doing very well. I'm sorry I haven't done a better job of keeping in touch lately. I hope to hear a little from each of you so I know what everyone else is keeping busy with as well. Take Care!
Steph~
ps.
Sarah/Andy...I want updated pregnancy pictures. (I'm laying the floor throwing a fit right now, thrashing arms and legs and everything)
Mark-Congrats again on the Ironman finish!
Steven and Mary...Congrats on the new addition to the family (I haven't seen any pictures yet...he's not an ugly little bugger who takes after his daddy is he?)
Does anyone have an actual working e-mail address for Russell?
If anyone didn't catch it, my not-so-new cellphone number is
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
So what if Everything is on Fire...it's a dry heat.
Hello All,
I've tried to start an update e-mail several times (unsuccessfully)...but this one is going to do the trick.
First off, my apartment isn't on fire, and I'm not anywhere too near where the wildfires are burning in Utah. We do have a heck of a lot of stuff on fire though, as I found out when I started seeing the Utah fires on the national (as well as local) news. It's no wonder with the humidity steadily below 10% (no, that's not a typo) and the temps in the high 90's to low 100's. Here in Salt Lake it has officially been 30 days since we've had any measurable rain and there isn't a cloud in sight in the 10-day forcast. There have been some small wildfires in the south end of the valley, however the large fires on the national news are a couple hours south of where I live. With lots of dry grass, endless nothing, low humidity, 100-degree temps, and lack of water supply it's no wonder fighting them is such a tough job. I've realized it's a job I definitly wouldn't want! On a recent trip through Provo (about 60 minutes south) I did get my first real view of wildfires being fought, where a small fire on the side of the mountain was being fought with helicopters and planes. Apparently it had been started from a stray spark thrown from a lawnmower or something like that. It was an interesting sight firsthand...especially the fires on the mountainside at night, and seeing the helicopters dropping fire retardant out of the sky...the sort of thing you usually only see on the news back in the Midwest. To go along with the problems with fire, we're having some air quality issues due to the smoke. Ironically enough, the smoke we're getting isn't even really from the Utah fires, but is blowing in all the way from Oregon. I'm sure someone in Colorado is thoroughly enjoying our smoke. One thing I can say is that I'm not too upset by the heat anymore. I just wish the air would clear up and I'd get to see a raincloud once in a while. It might sound silly...but the same sunshine and clear skies day after day after day are sort of getting old (especially when combined with the heat). It would be nice to go outside during daylight hours without SPF 50 as well. Dreaded whiteish Wisconsin skin of mine!
Enough about that.
Work has been great lately, and I'm almost sad summer is going by so quickly! We're busy again as usual and now that I've been working here almost two years (next month!) I am getting to see some of our returning athletes grow up. It's excited to see who has changed--grown six inches, put on 30lbs, hit puberty finally etc... ;) It's also great to see how happy parents are with the results they've seen from their last session and are bringing their kids back for more. I'm also gearing up to start grad school at the end of August. When I say "gearing up" I mean that I'm mostly in denial. We just hired a new biomechanist, so the official-unofficial plan is for me to assist he and Steve in the lab this fall so I can work earlier hours and still go to class in the evening. I'm really optomistic at this point since the new guy (Bill) won't be travelling as much as Steve always needs to.
Jason and I have been on some exciting hiking/caving trips lately. I'm going to try to remember to attach a picture or two to this e-mail. Weekend trips since my last update include (in no particular order): Capitol Reef National Park, Goblin Valley State Park (where we hiked through my first slot canyon), Wheeler Peak (in Great Basin National Park), and several honorable mentions to caving trips in remote locations unassociated with any actual populated towns ;). One nice thing about the mountains being so close is that we do have the option to get up around 9500+ feet where the air is clearer and much cooler. This past weekend we went hiking up Little Cottonwood Canyon (about three miles of dirt road up from the top of Alta--for those of you who have visited the resorts up there) where at the top it was about 70 degrees when in the valley it was around 95. I've found that in some instances altitude actually makes hiking MORE bearable! The wildflowers were also AMAZING--pictures don't even begin to do them justice.
I've also had some more company, and made one trip home since my last update. Mark and La had a beautiful wedding in the beginning of June (although I'm still hoping someone will e-mail me a few pictures...hint...hint) ;) I was SO excited to see everyone during my week in WI as well as to be a bridesmaid for La on her wedding day! I also had company from KTP, Melissa, Derek, Chet, Aunt Linda, Cousin Ryan and their friend Norene. I'm beginning to be quite the Salt Lake Valley tour guide...so if you're heading this way do let me know and please come stay on my futon!
I think that about wraps it up. If anyone is interested I am going to try to post new recent pictures of more fun stuff to my flickr page tomorrow evening. http://www.flickr.com/photos/steph_koenig/
Also FYI Jason and I will be spending a weekend in WI from August 9th-13th. Rumor has it there will be a picnic on Saturday most likely at my parents house. If you're around town or we head your direction we might be dropping by. I hope everyone is doing very well!
Steph~
ps. Jess-props on your new job/promotion! I do enjoy your updates although I'm not much good at replying.
Mark-you're officially on the update list so you'll have to adjust. Please make La talk to me online more often ;)
Sarah-As if you read my mind...I got your pregnancy pictures...only 30mins ago this note said "I want pregnancy pictures" and before I sent the e-mail out they just miraculously appeared! I'm so terribly excited to see you and Andy when I'm home I can't handle it!
Lastly "Kudos" too all the company I've had in the last couple of months. You all made it a very exciting Spring!
I've tried to start an update e-mail several times (unsuccessfully)...but this one is going to do the trick.
First off, my apartment isn't on fire, and I'm not anywhere too near where the wildfires are burning in Utah. We do have a heck of a lot of stuff on fire though, as I found out when I started seeing the Utah fires on the national (as well as local) news. It's no wonder with the humidity steadily below 10% (no, that's not a typo) and the temps in the high 90's to low 100's. Here in Salt Lake it has officially been 30 days since we've had any measurable rain and there isn't a cloud in sight in the 10-day forcast. There have been some small wildfires in the south end of the valley, however the large fires on the national news are a couple hours south of where I live. With lots of dry grass, endless nothing, low humidity, 100-degree temps, and lack of water supply it's no wonder fighting them is such a tough job. I've realized it's a job I definitly wouldn't want! On a recent trip through Provo (about 60 minutes south) I did get my first real view of wildfires being fought, where a small fire on the side of the mountain was being fought with helicopters and planes. Apparently it had been started from a stray spark thrown from a lawnmower or something like that. It was an interesting sight firsthand...especially the fires on the mountainside at night, and seeing the helicopters dropping fire retardant out of the sky...the sort of thing you usually only see on the news back in the Midwest. To go along with the problems with fire, we're having some air quality issues due to the smoke. Ironically enough, the smoke we're getting isn't even really from the Utah fires, but is blowing in all the way from Oregon. I'm sure someone in Colorado is thoroughly enjoying our smoke. One thing I can say is that I'm not too upset by the heat anymore. I just wish the air would clear up and I'd get to see a raincloud once in a while. It might sound silly...but the same sunshine and clear skies day after day after day are sort of getting old (especially when combined with the heat). It would be nice to go outside during daylight hours without SPF 50 as well. Dreaded whiteish Wisconsin skin of mine!
Enough about that.
Work has been great lately, and I'm almost sad summer is going by so quickly! We're busy again as usual and now that I've been working here almost two years (next month!) I am getting to see some of our returning athletes grow up. It's excited to see who has changed--grown six inches, put on 30lbs, hit puberty finally etc... ;) It's also great to see how happy parents are with the results they've seen from their last session and are bringing their kids back for more. I'm also gearing up to start grad school at the end of August. When I say "gearing up" I mean that I'm mostly in denial. We just hired a new biomechanist, so the official-unofficial plan is for me to assist he and Steve in the lab this fall so I can work earlier hours and still go to class in the evening. I'm really optomistic at this point since the new guy (Bill) won't be travelling as much as Steve always needs to.
Jason and I have been on some exciting hiking/caving trips lately. I'm going to try to remember to attach a picture or two to this e-mail. Weekend trips since my last update include (in no particular order): Capitol Reef National Park, Goblin Valley State Park (where we hiked through my first slot canyon), Wheeler Peak (in Great Basin National Park), and several honorable mentions to caving trips in remote locations unassociated with any actual populated towns ;). One nice thing about the mountains being so close is that we do have the option to get up around 9500+ feet where the air is clearer and much cooler. This past weekend we went hiking up Little Cottonwood Canyon (about three miles of dirt road up from the top of Alta--for those of you who have visited the resorts up there) where at the top it was about 70 degrees when in the valley it was around 95. I've found that in some instances altitude actually makes hiking MORE bearable! The wildflowers were also AMAZING--pictures don't even begin to do them justice.
I've also had some more company, and made one trip home since my last update. Mark and La had a beautiful wedding in the beginning of June (although I'm still hoping someone will e-mail me a few pictures...hint...hint) ;) I was SO excited to see everyone during my week in WI as well as to be a bridesmaid for La on her wedding day! I also had company from KTP, Melissa, Derek, Chet, Aunt Linda, Cousin Ryan and their friend Norene. I'm beginning to be quite the Salt Lake Valley tour guide...so if you're heading this way do let me know and please come stay on my futon!
I think that about wraps it up. If anyone is interested I am going to try to post new recent pictures of more fun stuff to my flickr page tomorrow evening. http://www.flickr.com/photos/steph_koenig/
Also FYI Jason and I will be spending a weekend in WI from August 9th-13th. Rumor has it there will be a picnic on Saturday most likely at my parents house. If you're around town or we head your direction we might be dropping by. I hope everyone is doing very well!
Steph~
ps. Jess-props on your new job/promotion! I do enjoy your updates although I'm not much good at replying.
Mark-you're officially on the update list so you'll have to adjust. Please make La talk to me online more often ;)
Sarah-As if you read my mind...I got your pregnancy pictures...only 30mins ago this note said "I want pregnancy pictures" and before I sent the e-mail out they just miraculously appeared! I'm so terribly excited to see you and Andy when I'm home I can't handle it!
Lastly "Kudos" too all the company I've had in the last couple of months. You all made it a very exciting Spring!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Another Long Overdue Update
Howdy,
It's been forever since I've written (approximately mid-January in case anyone was wondering just how long). I've been crazy busy and a lot has happened.
First off I was accepted into graduate school at the University of Utah. (See Jim, I had not yet broke the news to everyone BUT you.) I will be starting a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology this fall. Tonight I spent over an hour figuring out how to register online for 2 classes. I found the website to be almost frustrating enough to make me regret my graduate school decision (and wonder if I am actually qualified to attend). :) Eventually I got registered so it looks like I'll be starting classes this fall.
Jason has been back in my life as of mid-February, and things have been going well since. I've been on a few caving (and other) adventures with him and his family since then which have been a lot of fun (if you consider crawling around in a cave a lot of fun). I'm looking forward to more outdoor hikes above ground in the near future. Today was a trip to the local zoo with a few of his cousins...I don't think in my entire life I have seen so many strollers. (Those of you who have visited Utah will appreciate that comment more than others may.)
Early in March I had a couple of crazy Iowans and a pair of Wisconsinites come visit the great state of Utah for an extended weekend. We toured around town, they hit the slopes, we got into a minor car accident (I didn't know a person could have so much fun after getting rear-ended), and overall I think everyone had an excellent time. Jason has officially met more of my friends from back home, so you can imagine how amazing he now thinks everyone from the Midwest must be.
Easter weekend my parents came for their second visit to Utah. We toured around and even did some relaxing. Jason met more midwesterners and proceeded to take two sick days from work. (OK, so my parents weren't that hard on him...but it's sort of funny to say it that way.)
Work has been going well. This past week we found ourselves running damage control on a bunch of muttled data from our latest football combine, so the week was long and stressful, but the overtime was nice. I'm planning to continue working this fall when I head back to school. Work has basically guaranteed me 40 hours/week and I will get some tuition assistance so I think things will work out well. My next hurdle is applying for residency. With any luck I will be an official Utah resident by the end of summer.
Speaking of summer, this August I will have been in Utah for 2 entire years! Time flys doesn't it?
Anyhows, I wanted to send a short note to say all is well and that I'm sorry I haven't written anything for so long.
If anyone wants to check out some of my pictures from recently (and over the past year) I now have a page on flickr at: www.flickr.com/photos/steph_koenig please feel free to check them out and comment if you'd like. Hopefully I'll be posting more pictures soon!
I hope everyone is doing well. I'm looking forward to my next visit home June 1-10th for La and Mark's wedding. It will be exciting to see everyone again. Do let me know if anyone is planning a summer vacation that will bring them through Salt Lake (latest reviews say I'm a pretty OK tour guide).
Best Wishes and Be in Touch!
Steph~
It's been forever since I've written (approximately mid-January in case anyone was wondering just how long). I've been crazy busy and a lot has happened.
First off I was accepted into graduate school at the University of Utah. (See Jim, I had not yet broke the news to everyone BUT you.) I will be starting a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology this fall. Tonight I spent over an hour figuring out how to register online for 2 classes. I found the website to be almost frustrating enough to make me regret my graduate school decision (and wonder if I am actually qualified to attend). :) Eventually I got registered so it looks like I'll be starting classes this fall.
Jason has been back in my life as of mid-February, and things have been going well since. I've been on a few caving (and other) adventures with him and his family since then which have been a lot of fun (if you consider crawling around in a cave a lot of fun). I'm looking forward to more outdoor hikes above ground in the near future. Today was a trip to the local zoo with a few of his cousins...I don't think in my entire life I have seen so many strollers. (Those of you who have visited Utah will appreciate that comment more than others may.)
Early in March I had a couple of crazy Iowans and a pair of Wisconsinites come visit the great state of Utah for an extended weekend. We toured around town, they hit the slopes, we got into a minor car accident (I didn't know a person could have so much fun after getting rear-ended), and overall I think everyone had an excellent time. Jason has officially met more of my friends from back home, so you can imagine how amazing he now thinks everyone from the Midwest must be.
Easter weekend my parents came for their second visit to Utah. We toured around and even did some relaxing. Jason met more midwesterners and proceeded to take two sick days from work. (OK, so my parents weren't that hard on him...but it's sort of funny to say it that way.)
Work has been going well. This past week we found ourselves running damage control on a bunch of muttled data from our latest football combine, so the week was long and stressful, but the overtime was nice. I'm planning to continue working this fall when I head back to school. Work has basically guaranteed me 40 hours/week and I will get some tuition assistance so I think things will work out well. My next hurdle is applying for residency. With any luck I will be an official Utah resident by the end of summer.
Speaking of summer, this August I will have been in Utah for 2 entire years! Time flys doesn't it?
Anyhows, I wanted to send a short note to say all is well and that I'm sorry I haven't written anything for so long.
If anyone wants to check out some of my pictures from recently (and over the past year) I now have a page on flickr at: www.flickr.com/photos/steph_koenig please feel free to check them out and comment if you'd like. Hopefully I'll be posting more pictures soon!
I hope everyone is doing well. I'm looking forward to my next visit home June 1-10th for La and Mark's wedding. It will be exciting to see everyone again. Do let me know if anyone is planning a summer vacation that will bring them through Salt Lake (latest reviews say I'm a pretty OK tour guide).
Best Wishes and Be in Touch!
Steph~
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