McGeachy Biswas Lab Adventure!

The Pittsburgh fountain, finally working!

 
To celebrate a great start to the summer and the beginning of our complete lab family, we joined the Biswas lab in a summer lab adventure!  We even had to apply sunscreen... yeah, in Pittsburgh.

After a short day of work, we jumped in the respective mini-vans and headed off to the river waterfront to board the Pittsburgh Gateway Clipper.  On the boat, we headed up to the top deck to take in the city  from the water.  It was a perfect day for a boat ride, and the tour wasn't half bad either.  Quite informative.  I still don't know anything about Pittsburgh.

One of the many Pittsburgh bridges!

 After a round through the rivers, we met up for a beverage at Hofbräuhaus for a stein of German beer and enjoyed some traditional German food as well!  It was a great afternoon to get to know everyone and bond over our fine city! 

One of my favorite places in the Burgh, PNC Park!  Too bad there's no tailgating like Miller Park!

MSTP Retreat 3.0

This year our MSTP retreat was in the rolling hills of West Virginia.  We switched up the location to have something a little closer to home, and to try something new. The format was a bit different too, and included five minute talks from students to give a pitch about their research. I was able to give one of these talks on Friday before heading out to the retreat location, which was a good experience and exercise to develop my research "story". 

We had a good time with the MSTP gang at the retreat.  The first night was a blast as we enjoyed a barbecue and listened to the fourth year medical students talk about their journey through the MD/PhD program.  This is probably my favorite part of the retreat, because it gives me hope as they all say that the time flies by too fast and warn students to enjoy their graduate school years.  This is what I intend to do, and I already feel life is flying by too fast!

Annie and I roomed together and had a good time catching up and hosting a little gathering for the rest of the gang, as evidenced by the extra chairs that ended up outside our room. It helps that I spent some time with my family learning our favorite Old Fashioned recipes.

Fiesta remains.

All in all it was a fun retreat, and a continuation of great traditions!
I look forward to next year's adventure! 

Anderson Wedding Shower!

Grandpa and I before my wedding shower!

Well, it was a busy Wisconsin weekend, as they all are when I fly back for a quick visit!  This weekend I came home for my Bridal Shower, hosted by Kathy, Pam, Nancy and friends!  I flew in and had to immediately meet Lyssa out for a bite and Uncle Buck at the Isaar Inn. It's pretty much tradition to grab some good old fashioned Wisconsin bar food right when I land.

Bridal Party! (Lizzo is in VEGAS, jealous!)

Saturday, mom and I ran around to get some wedding planning done.Thank goodness for a free day to buy all of the little random things necessary to plan a wedding.  We also did some pretty hard core shopping to find mum some wedding gear.  Both of us are pretty bad shoppers, so considering our company, we stayed sane longer than anticipated in the mall!

Kathy, me, and my Mum!

The wedding shower was Sunday afternoon, and a bunch of my roomies from Madison and Chicago were coming up! I hadn't seen those ladies in far too long, but of course bit felt like we were still loving together and not a day had passed! I was so excited to see everyone!  

Alyssa Winsand and my cousin Bailee!

We had snacks and sat down for a few newlywed games. The bridesmaids told two truths and a lie, while Paul and I answered questions back to back to see if we had the same thoughts. There were quite a few that we were spot on.  I knew exactly what clothes that Paul wanted me to get rid of, and we agreed on where each other wanted to go on a honeymoon. We actually got a lot of them right! Then Paul made us all bawl when he was saying his recorded hello to all the ladies.  What a gentleman... but then he spilled the beans when I got home that he had a practice round. Haha unfair!!

It was a great time to catch up and see everyone before the wedding, and a reminder of how quickly things were coming up!!  We were going to be married before no time!!

#1 Fan.

After the shower, Lyssa and I met Haus out for dinner at Jackson Point to catch up over some chicken and fries.  Haus was telling us about his new place, and a bunch of other crazy adventures as always.  All in all, it was a great weekend back in Wisconsin, as always!

Always a good time at Jackson Point!

Mom and Dad visit for the Fourth! - 'AMERICA!

Tool Time Paul!

Curty and Deb made another drive out to Pittsburgh over the fourth of July weekend, which was during my first week in lab!  I wasn't able to get home very much during my two months of surgery service, so they came out here to help we a few more house projects while it was still warm.  Our first stop was of course Lowes were we loaded up on lumber for the week.  No house project is complete without 2x4s!

People kept offering their help... hey, those little pipes are DETERMINED!

Amazingly enough, we were able to fit close to eight 8ft 2x4s into Little Richie (my tiny two door Hyundai Accent) and get things underway.  Dad and I had to head back to Lowes to do the rest of the heavy lifting with their rental truck... which we waited about 3 hours to borrow, yeesssh!  I knew I should have bought a Diesel Truck when I turned sixteen.

Curty, the man with the plan to transform our backyard and front porch!

Dinner with Chef Alyce....

We got a good jump on the projects and I fired up the grill that we bought over the summer to make some veggies and other treats. We mainly bought our grill because of how good the neighbors smelled when they had their first BBQ.  Dad worked in the backyard to get the corner of our lot turned into a decent retaining wall instead of scrub brush, and started getting ideas about the front porch and how were were going to tackle that and get it done in a day!

Grillin' in out backyard!

Look at all the landscaping that Kathy and Jack helped us with!

Dad up on our garage, about to transform it into a relaxing front porch!

Action shot!

Our transformed first floor bathroom!  New vanity and mirror!

In the midst of all this, Paul was looking for deals on his computer (per ush) and came across an awesome deal on a white vanity that we had been eying up over the course of the summer.  It was small, but probably a perfect fit for our tiny first floor bathroom.  We had to run to another Lowe's store to get one in stock, but again, we were able to fit the vanity, a few faucets and some other building supplies into Little Richie in addition to three grown adults.... Little Richie is a hauling machine!

Dad had the vanity installed within 30 minutes I think! Crazy. It was a sweet little side project that transformed the look of our first floor bathroom.  He also installed new hardware for towels and toliet paper that dolled up the room.  I am a huge fan of Martha Stewart's line at these home improvement stores... which is where we got our hardware!  Worth the extra few dollars, because it came together beautifully!

The finished project after a days work and some creative adjustments! 

Finished front space!

Now I have to paint that terrible brown garage door...

In addition to the yard and new addition to our garage, we also did a few things that transformed the exterior of our front entry way.  We were looking all around to find new screen doors because ours are terribly old and made the front of the house look aged and nasty.  It was worn down to an old metallic silver from the 1950's.  After searching and realizing that the cheapest screen door we could find would be close to $400, because our doors are old shaped and too tall to be standard, so we would have to special order... we decided $10 of spay paint would suffice.  I think it looks AWESOME!  Really changed the look of it!
(Click here to view before photos!)

Dad spray-painted our front door!

Finally, while Dad was doing the heavy lifting, my mom was painting up a storm!  All of our inside doors were different shades of brown... and well very distracting in comparison to our white painted trim throughout the house.  So, again, we painted them!  Deb managed to put about 3 coats on every door in the house... which is actually just crazy.  We spray painted a few door knobs and others we left gold.  It looks great and was another project that really helped with the facelift!

Dad's trundle bed , so they both can sleep on a real mattress!

The final project was one that Curty was working on at home for a while and brought with him to Pittsburgh in the Prius... another hauling machine!  He hand crafted and sealed these boards together to created two beds in the space of one.  Where you see the handles, it pulls out on wheels for another twin bed for extra sleeping!  We were grateful for this design because it saves a ton of space in our modestly sized house.  My parents were pretty thankful as well, because it means they can actually sleep and not be confined to a spare air mattress or our concrete couch.

As always, it was another productive visit!

Next project.... The MAN CAVE!  
(also know as our nasty basement...)

End of Surgery - Start of PhD Land!

Well, after surgery marked the big transition.  

Official Start of my PhD.

July 1, 2013 

I crammed and finished my surgery shelf, had a day to myself and then it was directly to lab without a break! 

The moment I walked into lab it felt like the clock was ticking, yet I had endless time to get things done.  For that reason the first few weeks are painfully difficult to focus on the project/thesis at hand.  Additionally, I kept getting to lab WAY too early and couldn't convince myself that it was normal to sleep past 4:30AM.

I decided to do my PhD research in the McGeachy Lab, and I couldn't be happier.  The atmosphere and environment is collaborative, fun, and a place I can see myself talking too much to my awesome coworkers!  The transition was easy in some ways and difficult in other ways - since it is such a drastic change in pace and thought processes from the clinical world.

I will surely keep you updated with the progress of my research as the years go past!  

Thank you for joining me on this wild adventure!

Celebrating my Birthday with Eric Church and Kenny Chesney!

Me, Katie, and Taylor at the Concert!

People waking up from their day long bender in the parking lot... to join the concert!

After a whirlwind Winsand wedding and traveling to Wisconsin and back... it was my 25th Birthday! Whoot whoot... Who better to spend it with than my favorite artist and man crush... Eric Church.
Yes, I said it.  The Eric Church.

My 25th Birthday Date!  MR. Anderson himself...

Ohh, and my beautiful husband to be, Paul Anderson, he came too, haha! Luckily for him, we also had some relatively sane sidekicks of Taylor and Katie for Paul to relate to while I was going off the deep end in awe of my man Church.

In my happy place, singing and dancing alone.

So, I forgot to mention that Eric Church was only the opening act for Kenny Chesney, but in my opinion I really went there for him and Chesney was a bonus. Eli Young Band also played before Church, so it was three great concerts in a row!  All of the acts were great, and the concert went by MUCH too fast.  Now I remember why I hesitate to spend money for such entertainment... hmmm.  Before we knew it, we were cheering for the encore, and lucky for us Eric Church came out to sing one of Kenny's songs in the latter part of the concert!  I think Chesney must understand Church's fan base is wild and dedicated!

Thanks Paul!  Those shades have been in SOO many photos!

Zoom in on Church's stage... aviators, much appreciated Church.

25 years old and still getting asked if I go to high school... score!

 What a blast!  This experience made me want to immediately follow around Eric Church across the nation on his tour.  I was looking up other shows and joined his fan club the "Church Choir" in order to have a chance to meet him backstage. Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to meet the legend, but I have been following his work like a hawk.

View of the fountain - the renovations are finally finished!

Kenny Chesney: No Shoes Nation!

The concert was a perfect way to spend my 25th Birthday!  The next morning I was up early to get to the wards to pre-round on my patients on my surgery rotation.  Dedication, and proof you can have a life in medicine, as long as you're willing to give up an hour of sleep here and there!

Celebrating Erik and Cara Winsand's Wedding!

Erik, Carol and Bill Winsand!  Wedding DAY!

Marsh Clan and the Adopted Lyssa P, my date.

It was in the colorectal section of my surgery clerkship, and I asked off well in advance to attend and stand in Windpants' wedding! I was so honored when Erik called me to stand in Joel's place with the men in his honor. It's a true testament to lifelong friends like the Winsands. We grew up together and got into trouble at the end of Pit Lane and wherever else we set up our Winsand and Marsh Agency, formally known as WAMA.  We begged for sleepovers every time my parents would go to Bonduel to work on the brewery.  Seriously, some great times...  ahhh, makes me want to go back to being an awkward middle schooler again so we can relive those days on the trampoline and with the crazy dalmatian and billy goat.

Alyssa and I walking down together, in honor of Joel Buck.

Then we started growing up, and life started happening, but we stayed close.  I got to see Alyssa at her prom and we went for ice cream at the Cecil diner every once and a while.  We also got to take long trips up north to Bill's cabin out in the woods with no electricity or water.  We played poker upstairs and had a blast watching people run with the toilet paper flag to the outdoor john.  After high school Erik and Joel went to college together at Michigan Tech. They didn't room together the first year, but shortly after became roommates and met some amazing friends as a group.  I was fortunate enough that Joel let me drop in on their college times every once and a while.  It was a blast every time I stepped into their apartment or mansion.  Erik was always entertaining... hahah!  Oh man, I will save Tech stories for later...

Erik and Cara's impressive dance!  Nice moves you two!

After college, Erik moved to Madison, where I was going to school, for a job.  We had a blast in Madison.  Erik was a man of many locations.  There was "Cold Nights in the Prairie Erik"... and my favorite "Downtown Erik".  This was when me and the crazy roomies were living in Kendall Ave and had a place for Erik to stay in case he couldn't make it back to the Prairie.  Donut in one hand and pizza slice in other while watching morning football... such a hard decision of which one to eat...

Let the party begin!

While Downtown Erik was getting to meet a new group of friends, I remember when he met Cara and starting dating a pretty young lady.  I was so excited for him!  Of course they hit it off right away.  Erik was also important in my new relationship with Paul!  He was the one who made him feel at home and came out for my 21st birthday party, which was one of our first few dates!  Crazy how it all happened really...

Nothing like a good polka with the Polka King himself!

Well shortly after moving to Pittsburgh, I got a call from Erik about rings... just general questions and then bam!  He saw the perfect ring and was engaged!  It was the perfect story... and engagement at the Capital in Madison where it all began!  Precious.  The time of their engagement flew by quickly and before I knew it, I was buying dresses and plane tickets to come back for their big day!

Mom and all of Joel's buddies!  Jon, Dan, and Shnick!

Due to my surgery clerkship, I had to catch the earliest flight out of Pittsburgh in order to get to Madison by 9:30AM.  Becca was kind enough to pick me up at the airport and let me invade her house in order to try to do my hair in a classy wedding up-do and freshen up for the day.  I had tried to put my hair in curlers in Pittsburgh, and was frantically taking them out of my hair as Paul drove me to the airport.  I was a hot mess... per ush.  Nonetheless, we got my hair done with Becca and Lyssa's assistance, and I took the kitchen shears to my bangs to create some sort of hair that I could curl for a face framing piece... haha, Becca's voice of reason begged me not to, but I cut it anyway... !!

From there, my parents met me and we headed off to the church to get ready for the ceremony.  I unfortunately had to miss the rehersal, so I quickly learned my part and we were ready to walk down the isle in no time!  It was a beautiful ceremony and I was getting pretty emotional being Joel's placeholder.  A lot of people told my family just how special that was, and they knew right away the purpose of me in a black dress on the boys' side.  I was so honored to be a part of their day.

The two lovebirds... still on the dance floor after 35 years of marriage!

Dan and Katie... momma to be!  So exciting!

Ryan and Kate Goddard!

After the ceremony it was time to run around town for wedding pictures!  They turned out beautifully and nothing beats the views of Madison.  The lake, the parks, the terrace... ahh, how I miss Madison!  Then the wedding party came back to the hotel where I found my date, Lyssa, hanging with the fam and giving Curty a hard time, as usual!  Or more like, encouraging Curty!!

That looks like a touchdown my friends... Solid Erik... ahah!

Uncle Whitey and Alyssa!  Northwoods neighbors!

We ate dinner and enjoyed the evening... especially the dancing.  With Lyssa as my date, things always tend to get a little wild and crazy on the dance floor...  (see photos below for confirmation)

This pretty much sums up our relationship... especially on the dance floor!

Well, this is a dollar dance gone...twenty dollars.... and wild.

Nothing like a little air guitar...

 To take a break from the dance marathon, Lyssa and I found a wild crowd in the photo booth... and joined them for a few photos.  We took some pictures together of course... I personally like the sensual salute photo... God Bless America.

The damage in the photo booth... pure hotness.

How many people can we fit?

Curty and Deb also joined us in the photo booth which was quite entertaining.  My dad... so camera shy. I wonder where I get it from... geeeze.  Yikes.

Lyssa, Deb, Curt and Alyce... Team Marsh.

After the long night, we tucked ourselves in bed because we already had a date with Becca the next morning for breakfast and to stroll around Madison.  We made our way to the terrace to catch some sun and a bite of ice cream.  After our short visit, it was back to the airport for me and I waited out a few delays before finally getting to Chicago and then back home to Pittsburgh so I could make it back for rounds at 4:30AM the next morning.  WORTH IT.

Lyssa, Me, and Becca... the Madison ladies back at the terrace for some ice cream!

 Thank you Erik and Cara for the amazing wedding and many wonderful memories!  Here's to a long loving marriage and many more adventures!