Mary

Josh and I camped Friday and Saturday nights at Governor Dodge State Park. This is our second trip to Governor Dodge since moving to Wisconsin, our previous trip was before all the snow melted and when everything was gray and ugly... it didn't give me a very good impression of the park. As it turns out, it did not give me a fair impression of the park either. Governor Dodge is an absolute gem of a State Park, it is just about everything a state park should be. They have magnificent rock formations, lakes and streams, waterfalls, trees and wildflowers. They have car camping, 1/2 mile in "backpacking" sites, a significant amount of hiking-only trail, biking and horse trails, swimming, boating, and fishing. They don't have rock climbing or weekly big band concerts with dancing... but we didn't much make use of those features at Devil's Lake either. And furthermore, it is only 45 minutes from our home and we showed up at 7pm on the Friday before Memorial Day, and were able to get a site for the full weekend without a reservation (the second to the last available for the full weekend). I am in love.

In researching for this weekend, I also ran across Kickapoo Valley Reserve almost by accident, and it looks like a place worth a trip. It is about 2 hours northwest of here. And on the subject of places to visit, Folklore Village (which is on the way to Governor Dodge) has a number of events I may be interested in, and a nice listing of other things in the area I may be interested in. Little Norway also looks like it is worth a day trip, at only like 10 miles away. Speaking of which, it looks like I don't, strictly speaking, need to become a Pagan to celebrate the Summer Solstice with other people in this area... of course, I might just want to anyway.



( Pictures! )

I've been having troubles with my right knee this week. Tuesday night, as I was getting up from the couch to go to bed, I got a sharp pain in my right knee. I thought it was odd, particularly given that I had been doing nothing more strenuous than sitting normally on the couch watching Angel with my 'puter on my lap uploading photos to ScrapBook. I figured it would pass, but the next morning it was worse. I've driven in to work each of the last 3 days to avoid the 0.6 mile walk to the train station, and my knee continues to hurt. I've been working it gently from time to time, hoping whatever it is will re-align itself. There is no history of weak knees in my family. My mom had symptoms similar to what I have been experiencing, but only in the last year or so... and she is nearly 60.

Anyhow, for the most part I've been trying to stay off it. I can't really go about my life staying off it completely, but I've been trying to use it lightly, been taking the elevator all the time, etc. But it's all kind of scary, especially since I don't think I did anything to cause it.

This week I have been working on my zip off pants. Last night I cut out all the pieces and stitched together the top part. Tonight I will do the waistband and fly. If I have time, I will also do the zippers and the legs. I am really impressed at how quickly the project has gone so far. I'm planning to bring my sewing machine into the shop tomorrow on my way to D&D, and I'm hoping to get the zip offs done before then. So I guess I have tonight and tomorrow morning to finish them.

Work has been going better this week than it has in a long time. I think the break was good for me. I've been feeling much more enthusiastic about what I am doing, and that has helped me to be able to do a good job... which in turn helps me feel more enthusiastic about it. Hopefully this cycle will continue, because the rut I was in before really sucked.

Incidentally, Rachel's photos from our Frosh year are here. There were some names I was unsure how to spell and some last names I just couldn't remember at all. If anyone wants to let me know of corrections, that would be useful. Also, there are some seriously cute photos of Mary and Daniel. If anyone is still in touch with them, they aught to pass them along (somehow I don't think they'd appreciate hearing from me). I'm planning on moving all my photos over from my old pbase album eventually... seeing as I've already paid for all the storage space in the world on LiveJournal.

Canoeing and Hiking last weekend...




Wheaton Forest Preserve Trip Photos

There comes a time when gardening stops being like pretending to have a baby or a pet...

( ...and gets even better )

I would have to say that hiking at Starved Rock seemed to be a success. We didn't cover as much distance as I expected, and it didn't take as long as I expected, but I think we managed to wear ourselves out... or at least wear many of ourselves out. It was pretty, and wooded, and the weather was just about as perfect as I could have asked for. There was only one waterfall that we went to, and it was tiny, but it was also kind of cool in that it was very accessible. It was rather a significant drive away, but I really enjoyed doing something different than what we normally do, and I got the impression that others felt similarly. Also, it was fun to see Benj for the first time in ages.

( Also, I took some photos )

Our first anniversary was a success. Though we were married on the 18th of June, we decided at the time that we would celebrate our anniversary on The Last Saturday of Spring. This year, that fell on the 17th of June, and the same day as Ed and Mandy's wedding. Since we wanted to attend their wedding (out of town in Savannah), but also wanted to partake of the standard 1 year anniversary tradition of eating the top layer of wedding cake, exchange gifts before our trip (so we'd be better able to plan for/use them on the trip), and start a tradition of dressing up in our wedding clothes for our anniversary, we decided to do those 3 activities a week early, on the 10th. Then on Wednesday, we flew off to Savannah for an anniversary trip before the wedding. The trip was good. Josh wrote quite a bit about it, so rather than write it all again, I'll just direct interested parties to his journal, http://camlost.livejournal.com/133758.html . Instead I will just caption the pictures I want to share.


More of our trip: http://www.pbase.com/sillygoosegirl/savannah


More of Ed and Mandy's Wedding: http://www.pbase.com/sillygoosegirl/emwedding
(Ed and Mandy, remind me to burn you a CD with all the photos I took at your wedding.)

I should be getting ready to go, but I want to post a couple pictures first.

This is our shiny new china cabinet (which weighs as much as the rest of our furniture put together) and kitchen table (already with junk on it):


Is this not the most adorable little thing you have ever seen? We found it at a garage sale for 50 cents. I wish we'd found it a couple months ago so we could have used it as a cake topper at our wedding. (In case you cannot tell from the photo, it is a pair of geese. Ahhh....)


Now it is time to get ready to go to the beach.

The sun came out, we got better pictures.

( Rings!!! )

For interested parties (like all you silly people making senior pages), my photos from Mudd at at: http://www.pbase.com/sillygoosegirl/mudd

By the way, any word on when last year's yearbook is coming out?

I can't believe that there colleges that don't allow even seniors to move off campus unless it is with a family member. What's up with that? I'm glad I didn't end up at one of those...