Miller Cliff Notes

Another long absence, I know. I'll just hit the highlights. The semester is finally over, and I managed to eke by in my class. I am now totally done with coursework- forever! It's a good thing too because I couldn't take another formal lecture course with tests and projects. It'll be nice to focus completely on my dissertation project. Our friends the Behling's visited us for a weekend, and we were able to take our dogs on lots of walks through campus (with an unexpected detour into the lakes) and Potato Creek State Park. Kevin got his first job for his newly created KM Photography business. He took pictures for a car show at the McCormick Place in Chicago. It went well and Kevin's expecting more jobs to come in. We also decided to put vinyl siding on our house. It was a last minute decision that just fell into our laps, and we couldn't pass it up. The job is almost finished, and it looks great. It sure beats having to paint! Riley's doing great and is still growing. He went through a bit of a teenager phase but seems to be pulling out of it now. Other than that, I've been super busy trying to get our upcoming trips to Uganda and Europe planned. I leave in two and a half weeks and don't feel anywhere near ready. I got all my shots and have my pills. I'm nervous about Uganda. I'm going over there for my fellowship and am working on finding collaborators for a research project on malaria and the Ugandan health care system. That means I have a lot of prep work to do before I leave. Kevin will meet up with me a week later, and we'll do a little bit of sightseeing. From Uganda, we head to Germany for Natalie and Ulli's wedding. We'll hang out with Ulli's family for a while, then take a week with my parents to do some blitz sightseeing. I'll be gone for the whole month of June. Riley will be staying with neighbors, so he'll be well taken care of; he'll probably forget all about us. We'll be sure to post lots of pictures- Kevin is super excited to get some new views for his camera. I'll try to write again before we leave, but it's likely we won't write until July. Wish us luck!