Life on the Runn...

The other weekend, Mom and Dad and I were talking about spending time outdoors, and we decided that it was high time we all go for a hike together, so yesterday we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and headed to Devil's Lake State Park, a place I typically frequent with Brian and our climber pals. Despite the gorgeous weather, the park was not terribly crowded, which was shocking to me.  All too often, we head to the Lake for a day of climbing and find that five hundred (or so it seems) of our closest climber/hiker friends are out and about.  But after shuffling past a few people on the Tumbled Rocks Trail, we were either entirely by ourselves or separated from any crowds by a few hundred feet of trail for the duration of our day.  We decided to walk around the entire lake, so the time and the relative privacy gave us plenty of time to take in the sights and catch up on life. It was sunny and warm -- and bug-free -- the entire trip,and in my book, it was a fabulo...

For the past few years, I have joined a number of family members in supporting a place that has become near and dear to us, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. For those of you who do not know, my little cousin, Zoe Mae, was born with a congenital heart defect. Now three, Zoe has had as many open heart surgeries as she has had birthdays.  Her parents, my cousin Ed and his wife Kaleena, face this challenge with Zoe in the most admirable of ways.  They have remained so very strong for Zoe, and Zoe has continued to impress all of us with her tenacity.  Zoe is an adorable, energetic big sister now.  To anyone who encounters her, she's a typical little girl, full of life and love. Were it not for the excellent care of the doctors and nurses at Children's, Zoe's story may be a very different one.  To give back to those who have done so much for them, Ed and Kaleena formed Team Zoe and have been participating in Al's Run/Walk for Children's Hospital since Zoe was a b...

This past weekend, we were lucky enough to attend the wedding of two of our good friends, Danny and Jenna.  We got to know the both of them via the climbing gym, and we have spent a great deal of time with the now-married couple climbing all over. In fact, we've metled in Kentucky together on many a summer trips and we've frozen in Alabama together as well, specifically on one very cold New Year's Eve. Our friends Craig and Sarah were nice enough to pick us up, and we drove with them and another gym pal, Rory, to the ceremony.  They say rain is good luck on one's wedding day, and it poured on Saturday, so Danny and Jenna should have lots of luck.  In fact, the weather held us up a bit; during the drive, it was raining so hard that the van became more of a ski on wheels than anything else, and we hydroplaned our way down the highway.  When we got to the church, we walked in just in time to get our seats in the pew before the wedding party made their way down the i...

Being back in Wisconsin does come with a few advantages, one being that I get to see my friends and family.  This weekend, I spent some time with my bestie and a few of her favorite ladies as we celebrated her upcoming wedding. The bachelorette party began with an Edelweiss boat cruise.  Heading into the whole shindig,  I did worry about the whole motion sickness aspect of cruising on a boat with bottomless margaritas at my disposal, and when all the ladies gathered at the boat launch, I did take comfort in the fact that I was not alone in my apprehension.  More than a few of us wondered if our stomachs would handle what Lake Michigan had to offer, and all of us were happy to find that we are tough gals; all was well. After our cruise came to an end and we were back on dry land, we headed across the parking lot to Lucille's to enjoy the dueling pianos and a few drinks.  Our night was fantastic - we drank, we sang, we danced in our se...