First Anniversary, Mackinac Island

The morning of our anniversary, we woke up at the cottage. It was a brisk, but beautiful morning...

The ferry ride to Mackinac Island...

The small rocky area you see in the trees is the overlook near Stone Cliff where we were engaged...

The Grand Hotel

When we arrived at the Grand Hotel, we were surprised to find out that they noticed it was our anniversary, and we were lucky enough to stay in the Betty Ford Suite!!!

Here is the beautiful carpet, made in France...

View of beautiful homes, and the bridge from our balcony...

The main lobby

We enjoyed our favorite bloody marys at the Pink Pony!

Dressed up for drinks on the porch....

The Cupula

Finished off by a great dinner at the Iroquois...

...and back to the Pink Pony to finish off the night with some great live music!

What a year we have had, I love you Mike! Thanks for an amazing weekend to celebrate all we have to remember, and all we have to look forward to!

Cedarville 2009

The long awaited trip to Cedarville finally arrived. For years, our friends have been going up to the UP for a long weekend, and we were finally able to join them.

When we arrived in Cedarville, we headed to the Islander for dinner and drinks by boat.

Fun at the Islander....

We headed to Government Island the next day for some boat and beach time.

Later that day, we headed back to the Annelin's, and began the much awaited Beer Olympics!

We rounded off a great weekend with a birthday celebration for Katie and Jeff...grilled a great dinner and had a bonfire. The next day everyone headed home, with great memories and in eager anticipation of next year....

Mud Hens

Every year, Mike and I join the Internal Medicine Department for a Toledo MudHen's baseball game. Here is a pic of Mike and Muddy, the mascot!!

Vescolani Wedding

August 8th, Megan and Clay tied the knot. Megan's family is good friends of the Howe's, and it was so much fun to be there for their big day. It was a beautiful day in St. Joe, the reception was lovely, and had a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.

Mike and his mom dancing :)

Don't we look serious :)

The Howes

10 year HS Reunion: Traverse City Central High Scool

I can hardly believe it has been 10 years since we graduated. It was great to see so many long lost friends, and catch up with ones I still see fairly regularly. Everyone is doing great....amazing what some people have accomplished. I can't wait to see what we have done in 15 years...

Classic Laura, Macare, Lu pic

So glad Jenna and Lu joined us late night!

Lisa-- so good to have you home from London, even for a bit!

Harborun!!!!!

July 31st, we headed up north again for the Harborrun, Mim's wedding, and my 10 year HS reunion. Unfortunately I don't have pics from Mim's wedding, which was beautiful!! Boo...so busy enjoying I forgot to take pictures. I do have more pics to share in upcoming posts from the rest of the fun weekend.

My mom, Mike and I ran the Harborun 10K on saturday AM. It was the perfect day for a run, mid 60s, overcast, but no rain. We were not prepared (mike and I hadn't run 6 miles in more than 2 years) but we went for it. Funny, we didn't run our best times, but I finished 1st in the women's 25-29 age group....and my mom finished 2nd in the 55-59 age group! Mike missed a turn, and if he hadn't lost that time, he surely would have placed. Either way it was a blast, and a great way to kick off our training for:

The DETROIT 1/2 Marathon, October 18th. We are really excited to be training again and getting back into longer distance running, and better shape!!!

South Haven

July 26th, we headed to South Haven for a day trip. We braved the cold winds, which tuned into a warm breeze after only an hour. We enjoyed a picnic on the beach (with food from Waterstreet Coffee Shop, one of our favorite old Kzoo hangouts), a beautiful 3 mile walk on the beach, followed by beach time, a walk out to the pier, and dinner at the Idler. It was a wonderful day and another great break for us as we finished our ICU months.

Camping at Crooked Lake

June 17-18, 09, we headed out post-call for a local camping trip!

Beautiful sunset at Crooked Lake Campground, in the Pinckney State Recreation area.

We headed out to Crooked Lake in a huge rainstorm. Thankfully it let up, and we were able to enjoy a really fun trip with friends Mitul, Paul, Mike and Megan.

Here is a picture of the infamous racoon who at Mitul's bag of chex mix.

We went fishing the next day and caught some tiny bluegills.

We also brough Steve (mike's brother's) kayaks which were great to cruise around the lake in.

We all had a great time, and can't wait to go back!

24 Hours in TC....

I hate to say it but I am way behind on blogging....but I am trying my best to catch up!

About a month ago, Mike and I were both starting month long rotations in the ICU...Mike in the Adult Medical ICU, and me in the Neonatal ICU. We had really busy months...with only 4 days off..3 of which we had off together!

The first day off, July 6th, we headed to TC for the Cherry Festival...only 24 hours, but well worth it!

The Nichols family...and a beautiful sunset

All 6 of us!

-for those who don't know...Mike, Laura, Dad, Mom, Christine (sister) and Todd (brother in law)

Following sunset cocktails on the back of the Amara, we all headed to North Peak for dinner, followed by the beer tent. Then all 6 of us stayed the night on the Amara... practice for our upcoming journey to the North Channel.

The next day, the sun was out and we braved the wind to enjoy some time on the water... you can see all the boats that fill West Bay....not to mention the festival in the background!

We took a cruise on the Amara... and Mike and I admired dream houses on the bay. All in all a great day...I even got to drive the boat!