Wow, time has flown since our last post and a lot has happened!
First, I finished my program! August 1st was our "pinning ceremony". It was a jam packed weekend with Dan's mom and sister coming to Duluth, grad parties, the Brewhouse Tri on Sunday, and a baby shower thrown in there for fun.
Monday the 3rd I hit the road and went to Chicago for 4 days, which was a blast! I love that city. I got together with my girls Heather and Kerry. We did a lot of biking, drank some good beer, and enjoyed the hot weather. It was fun to talk, laugh, and be together again.
I got home on the 6th and on the 8th went to the Twin Cities until the 15th. I did a Kaplan board exam prep course with some other people from my program. I stayed with Maddie for a few days and with Nick and Louisa for the rest of the week. It was another really fun week. Class was pretty much every evening from 6 pm to 9:30 pm leaving lots of time for biking all over the metro area. There are spectacular bike trails and paths all over the twin cities and Nick and I explored a lot of them. Dan came down one night and he and my nursing school friends went to a Twins game.
Last week I took the dreaded board exam and passed! So now I am officially and unemployed RN... shouldn't I be getting a check or something? Ha, just kidding. I have been spending my days searching for and applying for jobs. I figure I have applied for over 70 jobs at this point and have not gotten one call. Its an ugly market right now.
Dan and I went to the Porcupine Mts in Michigan's UP last weekend to celebrate our 2nd anniversary, my finishing school/board exam, and Dan finishing at the Scenic!!! Thank god he is out of that place. He definitely stayed too long and should have quit being a manager there long ago. Its has been wonderful to spend time together, eat dinner together, and live a normal life! Our backpacking trip was wonderful, I wish we could have stayed longer. It was a nice way to enjoy a little bit of summer. He starts school at UWS tomorrow, so that should be something to stay tuned for.

Katie, Ellie, Sara, Audrey, Mo, Leanne

Chicago from the SAIC deck

new bridge going to SAIC modern wing (Heather's alma mater)

for Jolene, love Oprah

Heather and Kerry


the Hopleaf - lots of beers, good mussels and fries

Last time at the 'dome?


Jason, Ro, Jodie

Ellie, Kelsey

Two of my favorites from my childhood

Rainy start to the trip


packs up on the bear pole

Billie earns her keep

Lake of the Clouds - not as special as it was made out to be


Highest falls in the park

Stella checking out the edge of the cliff



Billie is so tired




Happy

Billie rolling around sans backpack


Mirror Lake

Me

Presque River

The Big Lake