I've seen this pitiful face too many times this Spring

As you can probably tell by the previous few posts (and lack of consistent posting) I've been traveling a lot this Spring. Every time I get the suitcase out this is happens:
I don't even have to be packing, she just has to see a suitcase. And then when I'm gone, this is what Mark sees:
Fortunately, I'm not leaving again for almost a month, but I can't even imagine what she'd look like if she knew how long we'll be gone when we're packing for Europe this summer! Pitiful!

San Diego

Last week I was in San Diego to conclude my whirlwind Spring of non-stop travel. I went for the American Academy of Audiology(AAA) convention, and for my first trip to California. It was a long week of meetings, presentations and lectures with a little sightseeing added in on the side. The weather was nice, although a little cooler than I expected, and I survived without any earthquakes! Here are a few pictures from the trip:

The Beach Boys on the USS Midway



Fireworks on the USS Midway


Now, I'm home for almost a month and after that Mark and I will be traveling together!

POLLEN (we're not friends)!

The pollen has been exceptionally bad this year (look at the weather channel or any news broadcast and you'll see stories about it). For us, it's come about a month later than usual due to the cold winter, but it's the worst we've ever had!

The following pictures probably show it better than I can explain. . . we live under a huge Live Oak tree and the driveway literally had so many catkins and so much pollen on it that Mark raked it into a pile (as you do leaves). He filled a large trash can, 2- 30 gallon pots and 4-15 gallon pots with it and there's still a pile waiting to be picked up. It's gross!!!!!! The driveway is still glowing yellow from all of the pollen left by the catkins, and it's still falling. . . . !


We haven't had rain in over 2 weeks which would help a lot, hopefully it's coming soon! As for now, we'll keep Kleenex and Claritin in business.

Drive, Fly, Drive, Sleep, Drive, Party, Drive, Sleep, Drive, Sleep, Drive, Fly, Drive

Wow . . . just writing that title makes me tired!
Last weekend I went to New Jersey for an awesome girls weekend to celebrate both of my cousins upcoming weddings. Friday I drove to Orlando, flew to Roanoke, VA to meet Mom and we drove together to New Jersey to the Schneider's house. As we were driving a "small world story" amazed us both . . . we were driving through Harrisburg, PA when Aunt Becca called (Mom's younger sister) to chat(she lives in Ithaca,New York). This is how the conversation unfolded:
Becca: "What are you up to?"
Mom: "Driving to NJ with Hannah for (cousin)Becca and Kristen's shower"
Becca: "I'm driving home from Baltimore"
Mom: " Where are you?"
Becca: " Harrisburg, PA"
Mom and Becca: "No way, we are in Harrisburg, PA too! What mile marker are you driving by? Have you crossed the river?, etc . . . . lots of fast talking and screaming :-)"
Eventually we figured out we were within 5 miles of eachother on the interstate so we stopped at a rest area, shared a few hugs and laughs and took lovely self portrait.

We then all parted ways and continued driving.
Friday night we arrived in NJ, had a nice dinner with family and got to meet Kristen and Becca's future mother-in-laws.

Saturday morning it was up early to drive into New York City to attend Becca's dress fitting at Kleinfelds. It was a chilly but beautiful day and so fun to get the opportunity to be driven into NYC by someone who knows it like the back of her hand. We had blast at the fitting; Becca had quite the entourage of 10 women and we were able to get a sneak peek at Kristen's beautiful dress as well! Additionally TLC was taping for "Say Yes to the Dress" that day so may of the consultants on the show were around :-) for a quick "celebrity" spotting.


After the dress fitting we drove back to NJ for the main event, a dual bridal shower for Becca and Kristen. It was a blast, lots of great food, fun games and great company. That night was spent back at the Schneider's house relaxing sharing stories.


Sunday Mom and I drove back to Blacksburg and met Dad and Grandad for a quick dinner before heading to bed.

Monday morning I drove to Roanoke, flew to Orlando and then drove back to Gainesville . . . arriving just in time for Mark to get home from work. Now it's back to reality and although it was a weekend of constant travel it was a BLAST! I can't wait for Becca and Kristen's weddings this summer, and to spend more time with everyone we met this weekend!

Henry's a Celebrity!

Today Henry made the cover of VT Collegiate Times . . . check out the article! Props to our ultra-running celebrity :-)

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/15231/going-the-distance-students-train-for-ultra-marathons

Arizona

My hotel in ScottsdaleView from my balcony

View from my balcony
Last week I had the opportunity to present at a conference in Scottsdale, Az. I'd never been to Arizona before and although I was honored to get a conference scholarship to present I wasn't very excited about going to Arizona by myself for a week. Much to my pleasant surprise I had a great time. The conference was one of the best I've been to; there was lots of great research and my presentation went well. The weather couldn't have been better . . . . mid 70's and sunny every day; I started working on a nice sun tan! Scottsdale is gorgeous and I can't wait to go to the conference again. There are so many amazing places in this world!

View of Camelback Mountian from outside the hotel

Presenting at the conference

Scottsdale

Desert Botanical Garden

2010 Mount Cheaha 50k

This weekend we went to Delta, Alabama. Delta, Alabama? you say, where the heck is that? I had no clue either but do now. It's in Cheaha State Park in the Talladega National Forest and it's quite beautiful. And now I bet you're wondering why in the world we went there . . . the Cheaha 50k: we went to support Henry as he "celebrated" one year as an ultra runner. The 2009 Mount Cheaha 50k was the first ultra race he competed in and after the great experience he and Dad had last year we all decided to go for the 2010 race.


We stayed in a cute little cabin,
high in the Alabama mountain and spent Saturday "crewing" for Henry as he ran 31 miles through the forest to the highest point in Alabama(2407 feet).


It was a beautiful day, although cold and windy and Henry did great. He placed 12th out of 184, running the race in 5:17:53 (an improvement of 48 minutes over last year). Here's a video of him finishing.