From the Big City to the Twin Cities - Brady

I mentioned in my last post that I had a conference up in St. Paul, Minnesota last weekend. It was nerve-wracking for two reasons. One, I, for the first time, was presenting a poster - a poster with very, very preliminary findings from one tiny piece of my dissertation. (By the way, a poster session is a lot like an elementary school science fair - you print out a description of your study on a giant sheet of paper, tack it up, and stand by it as other researchers walk around and ask questions. No ribbons awarded, however.) Two, Kevin and I decided to bring Molly with us up north.

I'd say it was a success all around. I got my poster there with only minor dents, dirt, and typos, didn't sound too clueless when people asked me questions, met some nice grad students and professors, and overall enjoyed myself at the conference. But Molly was the true superstar. She loves vacation as much as her "bosses" do. She was curious and friendly and absolutely perfectly behaved in the car and in the hotel - even when we left her alone for a few hours!

I'm posting some pictures below. Hope you're enjoying this spring day (which feels like a fall day in Chicago) wherever you are.

On the road!

The first of many dinners on patios.

Molly getting her dog park on.

My favorite bar anywhere - Nye's Polonaise Room. 

Wading at the base of Minnehaha Falls.

The falls.

Another great patio meal - Sea Salt, the restaurant at Minnehaha Falls.

Last patio night - W.A. Frost. (Also, can I just say I really love how this picture turned out?)

Me. At W.A. Frost.

After an early and rainy Sunday morning running around another dog park and rolling in mud puddles. Too tired even to eat breakfast in bed. I think this is how we all felt by the end of the weekend.

Lots Going On - Brady

Ah...Finally today I was able to sit down and work on my dissertation proposal after weeks of prepping for a conference,  traveling, and getting used to a new dog. But just as I started to open the file I thought, "Eh. I only have 45 minutes. I'll write a blog post instead."

Life has been very full, very busy, and very happy. Here are the highlights.

- Molly's great. She's a solid B+ dog, moving closer to an A- all the time. She's had a couple of accidents and can get a little too enthusiastic about chewing, but all in all she's a joy to have around. She can sit, lay down, stay, come, jump up (we're working on "down") and, I discovered today, do a great imitation of Chewbacca.

Molly after her first trip to Sherry, the groomer.

- My sisters, Kevin, and I ran the Indianapolis Half Marathon. Kelly and Amy didn't train much, so they ran for fun (although they ended up with a pretty fast time for a "fun run"). Kevin and I actually did great. Our time was about a 2:08, which means we averaged 9:45 miles (actually 9:36 miles, but our official time will say 9:45... you always end up running a little bit more than 13.1 because you kind of zig zag all over the course). We were very proud, very happy, and it re-inspired me to keep working to become a better runner.

At Rock Bottom Brewery after the race. Happy as can be.

- I've been on the road a bunch. I attended a conference in San Francisco which was awesome, awesome, awesome (the city AND the meeting of nerds) and I took zero pictures because I forgot my camera. I also just got back from a bachelorette party in New Orleans and leave today for another conference in St. Paul. We're taking Ms. Molly with us on this weekend's trip, so we'll see how that goes. Below are three of my favorite shots from Louisiana.

Swamp tour!

Just a photo I like...at one of the first bars we stopped into.

Frenchmen Street on Saturday night.

- I've got to get over and get my hands on Mona. What a sweet face. I also haven't seen Kelly and Nate's new place yet. Bad sister alert.

- Last and definitely least, I'm sick. I knew the short nights of light sleep, tossing and turning at every dog sound and the hours on airplanes and the generally higher stress levels that come when life gets a bit crazy would catch up with me. Even my fancy iced coffee with cream doesn't taste very good right now. Yuck. I think, taking into consideration everything you've just read about my fabulous life and exciting adventures, that you should feel really sorry for me right now. Don't you agree? ;)

Mona - Kelly

Meet Mona, the newest addition to the Jones-Santana household!  (Which is an update for another day... new apartment, new neighborhood, new living situation!)

Mona is a rescue from Thailand who (after LOTS of help and support) arrived in Chicago yesterday and was delivered to our apartment today.  You can ready more about Mona's story here.

We have a little work to do (specifically on walking/re-housetraining and the difference between rough play and nice play) but she seems to dig her new home and we all (including Lucy!) love her.

More updates to come!