A Year in Review

My apologies for the year-long blog-fail, so let's recap...

In September 2010, I discovered the Canadian Rockies at the International Pathogen Neisseria Conference in Banff...

In October 2010, I thoroughly enjoyed a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with the Lemas at La Fiesta Americana Resort...

The weekend after we returned from Mexico, we hopped on another plane and went to Green Bay where I, for the first time ever, touched the holy ground that is Lambeau field...

Several mouse experiments and hundreds and hundreds of pages later, I successfully defended my PhD dissertation on April 5, 2011...

Ten days after my defense, Seth and I packed up and left Rockville, MD for good, arriving in Marshfield, WI, our new home, on April 16, 2011. I started my new job at the Marshfield Clinic on April 25th...

Once the snow finally melted (see above, that was our house on April 16th of this year, the day we moved in) we spent a week in Tomahawk where I added skiing doubles with Seth to my water skiing repertoire...

Finally, on August 6, 2011, Seth and I were married at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Mosinee...

It's been a very, very busy, but very good, 16 or so months. Several years ago, my Aunt Susan gave me a magnet that says, "Happiness is a journey not a destination." I never believed it, I always thought that once I had my doctorate and was married to Seth, then I'd be happy, and then life would really start. But upon reviewing this past year, I realize that I really have been happy all along. I've had incredible opportunities to travel with really amazing friends, our families have come to visit and provided us with a much need yearly escape, and Seth has been by my side every single step of the way. When Emily (age 5), Melissa, and I were getting pedicures in Brentwood, CA last year, Emily explained to everyone, "I am a lucky girl!" Agreed!!!