Onward Phoenix!

I have neglected the blog again.  It's been a very busy spring this year, including some travel (2x) back to the east coast for the first time since the holidays for a family visit at the Jersey shore and a trip to Maryland for Scott's friend's wedding. And probably the biggest piece of news is that I have a new job!  I started in mid-June as a research specialist at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (Go Phoenix!).  I am coordinating several fish and wildlife habitat restoration projects in the Bay of Green Bay, which I will share more about when I have more details and cool photos.  These projects will get me back out into "the field" (i.e., what we conservation people call outside) more often, but it will be more like knee (or waist) deep in the bay and also driving a boat.  Awesome!  I also get to work with many of the same people from my previous jobs and I had a short stint at the university about a year ago as an instructor, so at least everything isn't completely new.  Very excited to have work in my area of expertise and to be back in the university setting, but needless to say it has been an adjustment back into the full time work force and trying to keep up with summer activities, classes at the gym, gardening, and keeping Teddy busy!

In May, I had the change to welcome my first visitor to WI besides my parents!  My college friend Rosie flew out to visit for Memorial Day weekend.  We had a great time touring Lambeau Field, visiting one of the largest dairy farms in WI (thanks to Rosie's dairy connections!), and auto touring/lighthouse touring/wine tasting the Lake Michigan shoreline.  We even stopped at a winery we had not been to yet called Cold Country Vines & Wines in Kewaunee- it was great and we will definitely be back!  It was wonderful to catch up with Rosie, and to "share" Wisconsin with her.  We pretty much covered it: dairy farming, cheese and wine tasting, microbreweries, lakeshore, lighthouses, and even lunch at Culver's (can't miss that!).  Whew!  Now that we have been here for just shy of 3 years, we know enough to be half decent tour guides.  Book your trip today, great rates (i.e., free) and we have lots of openings in the schedule (....as in no bookings until Mom and Dad come back out in late summer).  Thanks for visiting, Rosie!

 Nice off-season afternoon at Lambeau

Nittany Lions experience the Lambeau Leap!

Point Beach was early season chilly, but beautiful! 

Wine tasting at von Stiehl Winery in Algoma

This spring has been very rainy and, early on, it was pretty cool. We planted the garden during the last few days of May once the frost danger ended, and have only had to water a couple of times since due to all the storms and rain over the last month.  Nearly all of the plants seem to be doing great, and we really have a handle this year on the weed management and garden plot set up (thanks to my UW-Extension gardening courses!).  This year we have: onions, lettuce, kale, redskin potatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, winter and summer squash, tomatoes, and peas.  So far, so good!  It should be about another month before we have veggies.  So hard to be patient!

Early stages of the garden- mid-June

Also looking forward to getting to some Bullfrogs baseball games soon- we haven't made it out yet, but hopefully schedules will settle in here and the excessive rain will stop...and we can get in some nice evenings at the ballpark.