Short week in Seymour...

My week in Seymour was full of fun and festive activities!  The first day back Lyssa had off work so mother and I booked some bridal dress appointments and did some quick wedding dress shopping.  We found some great gowns and gasped at a few price tags, you know, the ush of wedding dress shopping - or wedding shopping of any kind.

Bill, Dad, and Uncle Bob!  Or a Winsand - Marsh - Winsand sandwich!

My delectable and fresh stir fry - Thanks Uncle Bob!

After completely exhausted from trying on white dresses, Lyssa and I relaxed at her place to finish off the afternoon watching the Bachelorette that we missed while riding in the Dodge.  It's a guilty pleasure and has continued to be our long distance date!  I ran quickly home to meet up with my parents so we could head over to the Winsand house to get some Vegan Bob grub!

Mum and I with our personalized dishes...

Uncle Tuffy!

 

Big City BOB and Dad scraping the cast iron skillet!

Vegan Bob was up for the week gardening and tending to the massive amount of vegetables and growing fruits that they planted in the garden.  You know when to take a garden seriously when it comes with a 12 page visual spreadsheet where all the different species are planted - it's quite a project!  Bob was whipping up fresh stir fry, in choose your own fresh vegetables and spice factor fashion!  I took to the vegetables, loaded up on shiitake mushrooms and in a few short minutes was handed a stir fry fit for a queen!  I couldn't stop eating the delicious food and before I knew it... it was gone.  I had out eaten the men!  Yikes!  Well worth the uncomfortably full feeling!  Thanks Uncle Bob!!

The next night we arranged a little get together at Isaar Inn to celebrate Ashley's win of a wings party at Buck's Scholarship Benefit!  The wings were plentiful and it was so great to see everyone!  To see more you can click here to go to my Brother's Blog!

At Isaar Inn for the Wing Party!  Lexie, Alyssa, Me, Katie!

That night Lyssa and I invited ourselves over to see Jed and Lexie's new house for dinner - haha, funny that it worked so well because it was Jed's day off!  In just a few hours we had a make shift party planned!  Katie and I also decided that we should grab lunch the next day.  It was so fun to catch up with her over lunch!  Something we'll definitely have to repeat the next time I am back in area!

After lunch,  I was so excited to see Jed and Lexie's place, and after inviting myself, I wasn't about to go over empty handed!  So, I made a pit stop at Woodmans on the way home and got to cooking right away!  With Alyssa's help, we had cake, brownies, fruit salad and a house warming gift in just a matter of minutes!


Turns out that Jed's place is really close to Paul's parent's house, so Alyssa and I stopped by to say hello and see everyone!  I finally was able to get back and visit with John, which I had been hoping to do for months.  It was a short, but wonderful visit.

The fine hosts - Jed and Lexie.

By the time we got to Lexie's, the meat was all sliced and the kabobs were itching to get on the grill.  Haus showed up shortly after and grill master Jed (aka DJ Skip) had them cooked to perfection in no time!  It was so fun to visit over dinner as my time in Seymour was coming to an end...

The boys manning the grill - a summer past time!

Yeah, that's looking pretty delicious!

Friday I was on a plane early in the morning and back to Pittsburgh in the afternoon for class - I was praying that my flights wouldn't be delayed, but I knew good things were going to happen when I was riding with the Packer's President: Mark Murphy!  WILD!  We even exchanged cuckles in the airport - a Packer fan's dream... now only if I can fly home next time with Aaron Rodgers!

Lexie, Alyssa and I on my last evening in Seymour for a bit!

Driving hom from Eva in the Dodge!

Nice smally Lyssa - I again came up a little short...

Our final day at Lake Eva consisted of an awesome breakfast and then wishing Kate a safe ride ALL the way back to Chicago - a hefty trek to say the least.  Chris and Kate took off early in the morning and Matt's truck loaded up with four wheelers had to leave shortly after.   Lyssa and I helped with laundry and then took to the lake for some last minute fishing.  Curty was our captain and we were reeling the hogs in like crazy!  We caught a few small mouth bass and had to net them because they were so huge... (fish stories, I know - but this is serious, hah)!

Captain Curty with my big catch!

Lyssa for a portrait by the falls...

After a morning in Lake Eva we jumped in Curty's truck in the afternoon to make our way south towards Buck's Camp Fence.  I requested that we stop and walk back to the waterfall on the way - which Joel told me and Paul to go to sometime on our way up.  He knew better to let me navigate things like this, so Paul and I never made it.  We pulled over the truck and grabbed the camera for the short hike back into the woods to see the natural waterfall.   The spot is easy to miss because the turn off looks like a waste station - but if you follow the trail - the views are spectacular.

Roaring falls - a secret gem in Michigan!

Lyssa and I hiking beyond the rail to get closer to the waterfall!

Beautiful views of the river on our walk back...

Another view of the area...

We walked back and didn't think twice about the creek and water, a heaven for breeding mosquitoes, and got bit up like crazy.  The mosquitoes were quite tame up north, but back in the falls they were vicious!  We all looked like we had just contracted the chickenpox...

We itched the rest of the way to Joel's cabin, while I was looking online for wedding dresses and consulting Lyssa and Mum's opinion.  We talked about the bachelorette party, which I am looking forward to after hearing the many wild, country lovin' ideas we were throwing out on the table.


We made to Buck's, dropped off the wheeler and we showed Lyssa around a little bit to show her the progress of the place.  It was only after we were about an hour down the road getting subs at the shell station did I realize that I left my camera on Joel's "Buck Shot" fridge.  DAHHHH... of course!  Curty graciously turned the truck around and we went back up to grab it adding a few more hours of family bonding time in the Dodge!  Thanks for understanding everyone!

Me, Lyssa, Mom and Dad at the falls - learning how to do self timer on a tree!

The small creek and breeding ground for mosquitoes!

We had an excellent time up north, and details on the following week in Seymour are still to come!  There are so many things to catch up on, ohh, how I love the summer months!

Thank you all for reading and joining my journey!

Four-wheelin' and Fishin' at Lake Eva!

The Four-Wheeling Clan of Lake Eva!

Me and Lyssa taking on the trails in a bandit scarf and massive flannel!

My week back to Wisconsin was full of fun activities including the many fun adventures at Lake Eva.  After our first evening - the reunion of family and friends - we woke up the next morning for a day of four-wheeling around the north woods.  Curty consulted George to find the local secrets for some great look out spots and hikes in the woods.  It was a cool day out and we were all geared up for a long ride and day trip.  Curty let me borrow his flannel which was quite large and served as a cape while we were cruising down the trails.

The whole gang - Curty in the lead with Debbie in the Buggie... frantically navigating with the GPS!

I also forgot to mention that it had rained fairly recently, leaving some nice mud puddles/lakes for us to romp through and spin out in!  I knew Westerhoff wasn't going to allow Lyssa and I to get home without a face full of mud water - Chris and Kate came after us right outta the gate and Lyssa and I were drenched...

Our first destination was the hike to an overlook bluff.  We hiked the back way up a bunch of stairs and through a wooded and rocky trail.  Apparently its much more terrifying in the winter when the massive quantity of stairs simply turns into a large "man-slide" for boys in large snowmobile boots.  We hiked up to the top and were able to see the view - although slightly crowded with the new greenery of the summer season.  Westerhoff had the right idea and climbed a tree to get the best view.  It was a great hike and a fun place to visit!

Lyssa at the bluff with the stormy Kromer!

Westerhoff getting the Eagle's view of the bluff!

We jumped back on the four wheelers and went to another secret local overlook to have a small campfire to roast some hot dogs and have a lunch fit for kings.  I even ate two turkey dogs - I mean, can you blame me??... the atmosphere was epic, but I was burbing up processed turkey dog for the next 4-7 hours.  Mmmeeh, worth it.

Stay strong BIG ROOTS! The view of the river was perfection...

...can't beat a good northwoods view..

Kate grilling some dogs - thank you Matt for the finely crafted sticks!

I mean... what can I say? Lunch is served.

The view at our lunch place was absolutely amazing.  We were looking over the edge of a bluff, and we were definitely at the edge.  I kept laughing thinking of when Joel and I would watch the movie Black Sheep with Chris Farley and he took that massive tumble down the side of a hill... and about halfway down grabs on to the little roots - HAHA, classic Farley.  Well, this hill was about the same size, and I wouldn't doubt it if some man with a large artillery arsenal was living down in the gorge by the Sturgeon River.

Sensual.  Curty taming the land in the background...

After we stuffed ourselves we jumped back on the wheelers to visit the quiet, family owned establishment which marked close to our halfway point.  There was an older lady manning the pub and she was adorable, yet slightly terrifying.  She was making her own ice cubes from freezer trays - which gives you a sense of just how family owned this pub was.  Lyssa and I put a few dollars in the Jukebox and were able to choose about 16 songs (if only they were still that cheap everywhere!)

Lyssa and I in the Cadillac - might as well drive the Hyundai down the trails!

We finished off the day of perfect weather with some fishing at Lake Eva, but on the way back Curty let us drive the Cadillac!  Lyssa and I jumped at the chance to drive the "side by each" and followed the pack back to Eva.  Chris and Kate had no mercy now that we were driving the Cadillac... they found an opportunity to cover us with mud and then took it to the extreme!  Hahah, Lyssa and I drank a mud puddle for and afternoon snack.  A ways down the trail we found Haus sitting idle in a mud puddle, so Lyssa and I laid on the gas to give them a taste of their own muddy medicine!  Suckers! 

Matt and I catching some Eagle Bait!

After we went up the trail a ways laughing at our success we realized that we didn't see anybody behind us... hmmm.  So we stopped, and  shortly after Matt came flying up on his four-wheeler.  Apparently Haus had run out of gas in the middle of a mud puddle... on the four wheeler that Lyssa and I just handed off to him.  This then afforded Haus the nickname "Mr. NoGas" for the rest of the evening...
 

Lyssa doing some Eric Church "and tomorrow I'm taking me fishin'"

Our loyal captain and trail blazer for the day... Curty!

We had a wonderful day four-wheeling and capped it off with some rock bass fishing, which we like to call "eagle bait".  I couldn't have asked for a better adventure with any better company! We caught some nice fish and made many more memories!  Lake Eva is definitely the place for memory makin' and I can't wait to get back up there on the trails and on the lake!

Lyssa caught a nice fish while I'm still trying to put out my shark bait... classic roomie competition!

First week of summer.. in the lab!

Well, I finished the first year of medical school... I think.  You can never be quite sure I guess because the Office of Medical Education can always pull a fast one on you and remind you that there are some lingering requirements that I have yet to fill.  For now, I shall just cross my fingers...

The first year of medical school...

The first week of summer, I went straight to lab.  This summer I will be working in the Immunology Department looking at the immune system under different models of autoimmune diseases, such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.   These are many of the topics I enjoy, so I was excited to find a lab working on this area of research - so I joined the McGeachy Lab for the summer!  I'm learning a lot and in the very first week was able to try my hand at some new techniques.  Its going to be a fun summer.

Roomie Reunion at CMX - can you see the runway from here? Basically.

Da' Yooper Looper!

I only had one week in the lab however until it was off to the airport to fly home for my summer break!  The week went fast and shortly after I landed in the Houghton/Hancock airport!  Whooot!  My luggage was brought into the small one room airport and the guy that took it off the plane was the same one who handed it to me through a make shift garage door.  I loved that when we touched down, the people one plane said, "well, if this isn't your final destination - you've done something WRONG!" Hahah!  We all got a good laugh out of that!

The stormy kromers

We made out way into Houghton and stopped at the general store where we found Stormy Kromer hats for cheap!  Three matching ones at that... can't be beat.  So we impulse purchased them, per ush.  We then took a stop to see the Keweenaw Brewery and gave Kate the local tour of the boys' hangouts in college - now the new hangouts for the Eva Crew!

Thought this captured the mood of a Stormy Kromer perfectly...

We had a great time catching up quickly and seeing the city but after a while we slowly retreated to camp and shared many laughs over some country music.  We lit up the citronella candies to ward off the skeetos and shot the breeze.  It was heavenly.

 

Uncle Curty and Lyssa!  Too much fun at the Keweenaw!

Lyssa, Kate, and I on the deck... great view for some country music!

Curty likes my American Flag scarf!  You're My Friend!!  Priceless shirt!

Erin's Birthday & Pirate's Game!

The Birthday Girl and Puru!

Taylor and Katie!

Now that summer has begun (not officially, but close enough)... it's time to start the many get togethers with friends!  The first weekend consisted of a cozy Saturday night dinner at Pusadee's Garden for Erin's Birthday!  I never had the pleasure to go out for thai food, so it was a wee bit difficult to decide what to order off the menu.  I went with squash curry, because you can't go wrong when you order anything that resembles pumpkins right?

Nutella Football Cake!

The food was great and the company was even better!  We were out in the garden/deck for dinner and the atmosphere was excellent - very relaxing place to enjoy a glass of wine and some dinner.  The evening was polished off with a homemade football cake (because Erin loves football, unfortunately the wrong team (kaaaum, Steelers...ugh), but football nonetheless.  It was a great night!

Found this little/big gem on a building in Lawrenceville... 'MERICA!

The following Wednesday I got a random call from my dear friend Zims.  It was slightly frantic, yet relaxed asking if I would join him for the Pirates baseball game that was about to start in an hour.  Carey got caught at lab (the joys of research) and wasn't going to be able to make it.  I thought, "this is what summer is all about right??"  So I said yes, drove frantically across town to change into some baseball clothes, pick up Zims, print out the tickets, grab a bus downtown and make it for the first pitch of the night... Easy right?!?!  I cannot believe we made it!!  It was perfect timing and the seats were awesome!

Zims in the awesome seats - score!

Up close and personal to a massive bird? Much more a fan of the Polish Sausage!

Zims and I settled in for the game, grabbed a beverage and some ball park food to root on the Pirates!  I was bloated after stuffing myself with chicken tenders and fries!   But it was a blast, and I am so glad that I made the snap decision to head to the ball park with another fellow Wisconsinite.  The game made me pretty excited about Miller Park and the Brewers.  I can't wait to get back to enjoy a game or two!  GO CREW! 

One thing is for sure though, is that I'm definitely going to catch the Crew when they visit the Burgh!

Beautiful view from PNC park... you really can't beat it!