Chilling with the bison and the Halvorsons

A few weekends ago I went with the Halvorsons and the SOKS group from the vet school to a bison feed. We got to take a hayride out to the bison, feed them and then we came back and had a bison burger barbecue. The weather was perfect for the fall and we had a blast. Jake was slightly under the weather and didn't enjoy it as much but Skylar had a blast (once we got her to feed the bison instead of throwing the pellets at them). It was nice to spend time with friends and to get out of the house. Sad to say, Mike was unable to make it because he had to be at the hospital.

We got to visit the farm as well as the bison.

These guys were big but it was awesome to see them up so close.

Skylar on the round hay bails and Jake stylin'.

Jake being as cute as ever even though he wasn't feeling well.

Lisa, Skylar & Jake

Skylar feeding the bison, she didn't like the bison's tongue as you can tell by her face. But once she finally did it, she went through two more buckets of pellets.

Skylar and I

Baby Boy Blish Quilt

To give you some idea of what I do with my time while Mike is at the hospital or studying...Here are a few pictures of my latest quilt for Andy & Kim Blish's first baby due in November.

Mouse to Tower Quilt

This is the front piece that I had to piece together and sew down. A lot of work but definitely worth it. I will definitely make this quilt again in the future.

This is the fabric used for the backing.

The dogs like to think that they helped with this one...little do they know. What they were really hoping for was that this was going to be a new blanket for them. Can't you see Tiger's little paws marking it as his?

Once again, I take forever to update our blog. A sign that life is busy and time is passing quickly...

Nothing big has been happening, we're just trying to get by one day at a time. I have been busy at work as my research has picked up and I am back in the lab everyday. For those of you familiar with Manhattan, my lab that I am finally researching in is the Biosecurity Research Institute. I am the first one in their doing research in the lab so I have been a guinea pig with them trying to get all of their training and procedures in place. It has been quite an experience but it has been educating me on biosafety and biosecurity. Who knows this may be a path I choose to follow in the future (at least that is what my boss' wife tells me). I also have had a new co-worker since the middle of August that I have been training. She will be one of my replacements next summer. We'll be hiring the second one in the beginning of the new year, so I'll get to do this all over again. It just serves as a reminder that May will be here before we know it.

Mike is busy with clinics. Since I wrote last, he has completed orthopedic surgery, 6 weeks of food animal and oncology. He is currently on soft tissue surgery, which means lots of long days. Last night I went to bed at midnight because I was trying to wait up so I could see him a little bit and I gave up. I remember hearing him getting dinner sometime in the early morning and the next thing I know he wakes me up at 6:15 to tell me he is leaving to go back to school. Luckily he isn't on call for a few days and hopefully he can recuperate a little bit (not likely since he is still trying to receover from the lack of sleep from freshman year). He has had some awesome experiences with patients and their owners and we have kept in contact with a few of them with one in particular.


The first patient he bonded with was Danny back in his orthopedic surgery rotation. I became attached as well since I was going in each night to bring Mike dinner and to spend some time with him while he had to be with his patients, plus Danny was a flirt. Danny is a 13 year old yellow lab that came in lame with spinal damage and after the surgery and 2 weeks of rest and physical therapy walked out of the hospital on his own. We have kept in contact with Terry, Julie and Taylor over the past few months and have tried to arrange for a visit to see them in Nebraska, however, life keeps throwing them some hard balls. We tried to go 2 weekends ago and we were informed that their daughter, Taylor, had meningitis and ended up back in the hospital. If you could, please say a prayer for the family. Taylor has been in a lot of pain and the family is concerned and worn down. They are believers and have been asking for our prayers so I know they wouldn't mind some more from people that care about Mike and I. Mike and I are excited for the chance to go and visit them and Danny when the time is right. Danny will always have a piece of our hearts, especially as this was the first patient that Mike treated long term and made an unbelievable recovery for being an older dog.




Mike also had a long term patient during his food animal rotation and it was a goat named Wilbur. He came in with copper poisoning from eating pressure treated wood of a barn. His kidneys were failing, he had pneumonia, and all of the side effects from both. Once again, I spent a lot of time with Wilbur as well considering Mike spent a couple of hours a day with him, even on the weekends. It seemed as though Wilbur was getting better, however, after being home for a half a day he took a turn for the worst and passed away. Mike has decided that instead of liking to have a pet goat, now he wants to have a pet goat. It doesn't help either that our friends, Josh and Annie, have three pet goats that we got to see a few weekends ago at their new home. Some day you will all have to come and visit us as we start our own petting zoo, especially at the rate we are going. Mike is going to bring home every animal when he is a vet, I just know it. : )

I thought I would throw in another picture from Mike's 6 week food animal rotation, just to show you the size of animals that he worked with...and also for some amusement. He is sitting on top of Peblo, a 3,000 pound steer. Can you tell that Mike is from the city...sometimes I struggle myself these days? (I'm sure Chris Scott will be laughing when he sees this picture)

Until next time...

Things have calmed down a little bit since the tornado. Mike has been busy on this radiology rotation (but not as bad as before on anesthesia, that's for sure). This is his last of the three weeks and then he moves on to orthopedic surgery. This will be another long hour, high stress rotation, but at least we will have a long weekend in between (even though I'm sure he will spend 3/4 of the time studying).

I have kept myself busy being pulled in multiple directions. Work has been rather high stress with many deadlines, dealing with incompetent and unreliable coworkers and preparing for a conference the first week of August. At church, I've taken a break from worship team for the summer but have recently started a new Beth Moore bible study. I am also still able to find the time to keep up with my exercising, quilting, cross-stitching, hanging out at softball games with the ladies, playing with the furry children and holding down the house.

Mike and I have got to spend the last two weekends doing stuff together (that's a miracle right there). Two weekends ago we went up with some others from our church to help the tornado victims in the residential areas that were hit the hardest. It was amazing to stand at the house we were working on that had comparably minor damage especially when you looked around the cul de sac and saw people standing on the only part of their house that was left, their front steps. The path of the tornado was so evident. Your heart broke to see so many who had lost so much, but the encouraging part was to look around that day. There were so many people from the community who came and sacrificed their weekend to help others who needed it the most. We got to work with some people from the vet school, our church, a local youth group and complete strangers. I do love Manhattan and the sense of community that can bond people together, that isn't something you see everyday! I am however thankful to say that I have now seen that twice: here in Kansas and also back home when my family lost our home to a fire back in March 1996. Even through the storms, God is faithful and will provide!!

Mike and I also got to spend this past Friday night with my best friend, Val. She was in Kansas City for the week with some of her students that were in a competition. We got to go to the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner and hang out. Even though it was a brief visit, it was nice to see a face from back home.

I've also recently finished two more quilts. One was a jungle/rainforest playmat for my niece, Ava, and the other was a rag quilt for my friend's daughter, Grace. I will leave you with some pictures of them.

Ava's jungle/rainforest playmat

Grace's purple and pink flower rag quilt

It's official...we are not midwest people!!!

Needlessly to say, things in Manhattan are in a bit of upheaval and chaos but thankfully we made it through the tornado safely. I can also honestly state that we are not meant to stay in the midwest...east coast, we'll be back!! Mike and I ended up packing up all 5 of the furry children and heading to the basement of the vet school, where many others also hung out with human and furry children. We are all the way down the hallway by the doors. For those of you not familiar with where we are, the vet school is off of Denison Ave., we live less than 1 mile northeast from the vet school and that street sign tells you how close we really were. I can now say I have survived a tornado and I can only pray long and hard that we are never that close again.

3 hours in the basement of the vet school

Thankfully there have been no injuries so far in Manhattan, that could only be by the grace of God. I can only imagine if spring semester was still in session and the population of Manhattan was at its max. There were many who lost their homes and businesses and our thoughts and prayers go out to them. Below are some other pictures from around Manhattan of the destruction.

This used to be the TruValue hardware store.

Another one to spoil...yeah!!!

Mike and I received a phone call on Tuesday night that Jenn (Mike's sister) was in labor and at the hospital and we would have a new kid to spoil soon...yeah for us! That night Ava Marie Smith was born, weighing 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 20 inches long and she had a head of hair. We are so excited and now I get to make plans to go back home and see Ava. Angela is excited to be a big sister too. I'll post pictures once I have some.

What we've been up to...

EASTER:

Not much has changed for us over the past few months. We've simply been plugging and chugging our way through life and vet school. I've been continuing to stay busy at work (with many complications along the way and many more to come), keeping the house running and still finding time for quilting, reading and just hanging out with friends. Back at Easter time, while Mike was playing paintball with the boys out at Josh's place, Lindsey and I got together to dye Easter eggs. They were awesome and we could even play with them at the end. Star Wars...Of course

GOOD VS. EVIL (THE DARK SIDE)

VISIT FROM MOM & DAD/WHITE COAT CEREMONY:

We also recently had a visit from Mike's parents, who came out for Mike's White Coat ceremony which was 2 Fridays ago. We got to spend 5 days with them and it was nice to share our lives in Kansas with some more family members. We got to celebrate Mike's transition from the classroom to the clinics at his White Coat Ceremony and also Dad Marino's 75th birthday during their visit. We had a great time and it was sad to see them go. But they will be hear again before we know it for Mike's graduation next May (May 15, 2009 @ 4 pm...to be exact) along with many more members of both of our families.

Right after he got coated, and after he fluffed his hair mocking all of the girls

Mike & Lindsey

Mike & I

Mike with his proud parents

(Mike didn't stop smiling the whole day, it was the greatest feeling to see his response to all that he has accomplished)

The family on Mike's big day

Now Mike is getting ready to take his finals next week and begin his first rotation in clinics on May 5th. There is a lot of anxiety, stress, and tension going around right now but deep down I think Mike does see a light at the end of the tunnel, especially when he brings up discussions about our lives after vet school. As for me, work is currently slow for me due to some situations and I will be hiring some more workers in the near future then hopefully things will pick up and deadlines can be met and research completed. Through all of this, however, even when it seems life is more than we can handle, Mike and I know that we are here for a reason and God has never abandoned us along the way (if anything we are the ones who have jumped ship). We also know that as much as Mike dreads going through clinics and the fear of practicing in the future that God already knows where we will be and what we will be doing. We are also looking forward to a new niece or nephew that is due at the end of May, and hopefully a visit back home to see the baby.

Hope all is well all of you and until next time...