Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

In many ways this has been a challenging year. It was the first year without Joel's mom and also marks the ependymoma diagnosis of my godson. But it was also a joyful year filled with family and friends and trips to Tucson, Seattle and Vancouver. I feel so fortunate to have a great group of people around me. Merry Christmas!

Good News

The MRI results are in! No new tumor growth and the tumor that was there was reduced! What a great Christmas gift.

Thoughts

Just wanted to let everyone (at least the several people who read this on a regular basis) that my godson is having another MRI tomorrow. Thoughts and prayers for him and his family are always appreciated and will be especially nice tomorrow.

I visited with he, his sister and their mom today at their house. It was a great visit-he's walking along the furniture and we had a great time playing with play doh. Check out his website and leave a note!

ICE!

The weather has been amazingly mild this December! We've been above freezing for the past week or so. Last weekend Joel and I headed up to his goddaughter's place in Shawano. She's two and a half and so much fun! We spent all day Saturday watching her. We took her down to the river where she had a good time throwing ice chunks into the river. Then we took her to lunch. She is talking in full sentences now and is really developing a great personality. Here are a few pics....

Food + Games = Thanksgiving!

My parents playing Sequence!

Well, it's that time of year again. Time to get out the games and put away the belts! Joel and I spent Thanksgiving down in Indy with my parents. Every year my mom hosts Thanksgiving at our house with her side of the family. My cousin Barbara was there this year and she brought her son Trent (who's two!). I forgot how fun two year olds are-he was full of energy and a bit of mischief but on the whole-very well behaved.This year we had an extra day with everyone-as my Uncle Joe had to work in Indy so they all stayed on through Friday. Good times. My mom made a great meal and I got to spend time with friends and we even made a trip up to Batesville to see my Gram.

On the whole, it was delightful! Enjoy the pics...

My Uncle with his daughters, Lindsey and Barbara

Cosi Fan Tutte

AKA: All Women Are Like That


Nathan performed in the above Mozart opera the weekend before Thanksgiving. Joel and I went down to Tucson to see it. The subject matter was pretty funny-it's about how women can be convinced to stray...it was entertaining and Nathan was great (as usual). He played Guglielmo one of the main characters. His friend, Ken (pictured left) played the old trickster Don Alfonso.



Not only was the opera fantastic but the weather was 80's and sunny the entire time. On Saturday, Nathan wasn't performing so we went to the mountains (Mt. Lemmon) and it was georgeous. We drove up to the top and did a two mile loop...checking out the vistas. You could see for miles-it was so clear!The views were terrific and we had a chance to relax and spend time together.

Just in case

Any of you all are interested in what I'm working on...check out this write-up by the Kaiser Foundation on the Medicaid prescription drug program. This is the program that we are evaluating, though my specific project is much more detailed- we are looking at a very small issue related to the Medicaid Rebate program.

http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/Medicaid-Purchasing-Prescription-Drugs-Policy-Brief.pdf

It's totally awesome.

Good Genes

My husband comes from a musical family and I just wanted to brag about them! Joel can play lots of instruments-but prefers the guitar. He's great at it even when it's been months since he's practiced!

Last weekend we went to Milwaukee to see Harry (Joel's dad) perform in the Milwaukee Symphany Chorus. It's a big chorus and in addition to singing Mozart's Requiem Mass, we also were treated to selections from the Magic Flute. The singers were just fantastic and it was a great evening.

While Harry was singing in Milwaukee-Nathan (Joel's brother) was singing in Tucson and he got a great review!

Check it out:

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/154548.php

Go Jo Go!

Last weekend my buddy Jodie ran the Chicago marathon (for the third or fourth year?). Every year Joel and I travel around and try to see her at different points around Chicago. This year Joel was away at a conference but we (me and Jodie's friend, Bill) still managed to see Jodie at miles 10, 17, and the finish line! It was soooo cold. At one point we looked at the temperature and it was 39 degrees. Imagine running a marathon in that weather-yikes. Jodie did great! She was in the preferred start since she did so well last year-and this year she did pretty well. Under four hours!!! Woo hoo!

Anyway, I still didn't get marathon fever. It really doesn't appeal to me at all-but tomorrow I start training for an olympic distance triathlon! IT's a huge commitment to complete even the "base" training for it (10-15 hours per week) but I really want to challenge myself so I'm going to do it!

Wal-Fart

Great article on the corporation of corporations. I'm taking a labor markets class and we spent a week on the retail giant. It's short. Read it and weep.

http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/retail/walmart.pdf

Today

Today marks the one year anniversary of my mother-in-law's death. I've thought a bunch about whether I wanted to write anything on my blog about her-it feels too personal to share with the outside world and when I start thinking about what I would write-it becomes a laundry list of all of her personality traits that I loved and I wanted it to be something more. I decided to go for it...so here it is-for better or worse:

In 1976, my mother-in-law started a support group for women who had cesarean sections. Nathan (Joel's brother) had been delivered via C-section and Linda said she had a hard time bonding with him because he had been delivered that way. When a woman who had also had a baby via C-section called and asked her if she wanted to start a support group, Linda said yes. They started the group and provided information and support for other women who had a difficult time coming to terms with their own C-sections. The hospital provided information on the group and women who were interested were contacted by Linda or another member.

Linda told me that story in the Spring of 2005. They had just moved down to Johnson Creek and Linda had her last Dr. appt in Green Bay. I drove up there with her because Harry had to work. She shared a lot with me during that trip and I learned a lot about her. Looking back, I feel really fortunate to have had that time with her-it was the time between the hospital stay with meningitis and her death before her health really started to fail. It gave me a whole new perspective on what an amazing woman she was.

I met Linda on Joel and I's very first date. It was Joel's 20th birthday and we were passing through Shawano. We stopped for cake with his parents. Linda made his favorite-angel food and she was so friendly. I was a bit overwhelmed meeting the parents on the first date but she welcomed me with open arms (as was her style with everyone). Over the next six years (three as my mother-in-law), she was nothing but a source of constant love and support.

Linda was a great caretaker and mother as I know Joel and Nathan will tell you. She was always cooking something (mac and cheese, coffee cake, banana bread) and trying to feed you or get drinks for you. She was constantly trying to make things easier for you-laughing and never taking "no" for an answer. When my sister went to college in Appleton-Linda drove to see her with cookies and took her grocery shopping. She was that kind of a woman. I really miss her-and the loss is only deepened as Joel and I think about starting a family. She would have been a great grandmother and would have relished the job.

Maybe it's cheesy but Nathan made us a mix tape and the last song is Johnny Cash singing "My Life" and I heard it in the car tonight on the way home:

There are places i'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends i still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life i've loved them all

Friends!

We had such a great time at the wedding-I wanted to share a few more pics!

Marnie and Linds and then the girls.




Here's the maple ice sorbet-there was even a glowy thing underneath it!














And finally-Joel and I. Good times.

Cosmopolitan Sorbet in Maple Leaf Ice

That was one of the courses at the wedding Joel and I went to this weekend. It was a beautiful wedding in a great location (Birmingham, MI). The reception was very fancy and the food was great (they had a great Veggie entree-squash ravioli). We had a great time dancing and catching up with some of my buddies from grad school who graduated in June. The bride is one of my friends from policy school and we have become friends with her husband and Joel played soccer with them this past spring.

They really love each other and it was a delightful weekend!



P.S. The Maple Leaf Ice was just that-a maple leaf made of ice on top of which was the cosmo sorbet...I told you it was fancy!

P.P.S. I haven't forgotten about the vaca pics...more soon...

P.S.

More pictures and synopsis to come! I promise.

By the way-if you haven't checked out my godson's site lately. Stop by and leave a note in the guestbook.

Highlights

Yikes-it's been a long time since I've posted anything! Sorry about that. I've been playing catch up since I moved back to Chicago. Lots of things to do before school starts next week. I'm all registered and ready to go!

As for our vacation. I decided to post pictures from my favorite day on our trip. We camped one night in Olympic National Park and hiked along the beach. It was the most beautiful beach I've ever been too-and I've been to lots of coasts!

There are lots of sea stacks...with trees growing on top of them. The sea stack on the left (the one that looks like a square in the distance is called "the cake".

We arrived as the tide was going out so there were lots of tide pools with sea anenomes and starfish. We walked up about 1.5 miles and then back. It was my favorite part of the trip. Enjoy the pictures!!

I'm Back!

In Chicago! Joel and I had a great time traveling around the pacific northwest and now I've got lots of cleaning and unpacking to do! We're going to go through the pictures tonight so I'll post an abbreviated journal of our travels and share some pics.

LU WOW

Well it's official- only have 2 MORE DAYS of work! I can't believe it-but my final week is here and I'm so excited to be done and headed back to my "normal" Chicago life! This summer has definitely been a strain but I learned so much and had such a great experience, it was worth it!

Anyway, I got the opportunity last weekend to be a part of something amazing-a celebration for my godson-Anderson. His parents hosted a huge party at a park in Wisconsin and invited everyone they knew (and even some they didn't know) who supported them and their family over the past 6 months. It was a great turnout and really great food! I think Joel is still eating the pork sandwiches this week!

I wanted to share some pictures I (and Joel) took at the party. Anderson was still feeling a bit under the weather but I got a few smiles and he was pointing and clicking his tongue. I even got some "la la la's" out of him. He's such a joy. I was so happy that I was able to come home and be a part of it.Lori came all the way from Omaha to be at the party-it was so nice to be together with some of my best friends. Good friends that now feel more like family...

Ella (Chelle's daughter) always takes a bit to warm up to Joel but he eventually won her over.
She even let him push her on the swing!

And of course-the little guy-he's watching his sister swing!

Amazing Adventures-Part Duh

First and foremost-I'M HOME!! Back in Chicago for the weekend-going to celebrate my godson Anderson's amazing life tomorrow at the LUAU!

Okay back to my chronicles...

SATURDAY

After our tour of parks on Saturday we went back to my 'hood and ate at my favorite Thai place. It was good stuff. Then we went back to my house and watched the new Pride & Prejudice. Nora had never seen it and I've seen it about 25 times but could definitely watch it many more...

SUNDAY

We got up early and headed to the ferry terminal to take the ferry to Bainbridge Island and then drive to Olympic National Park. It was an early morning ferry and there really weren't very many people on it. As you can see from the above picture-mom and nora were wusses-Nora thought it was too cold. I took that picture standing on the deck looking in on them. As you can see, I did finally get them out on the deck for a bit-and if you look to the left of them (their right) you can see the Mountain. It made an appearence for us on the way to Bainbridge! How nice of it. Once we reached the island we stopped at the Blackbird bakery and had a GREAT blueberry lemon scone, cinnamon roll, and orange roll. It was fantastic. Mom and Nora read the paper while I tried hard not to read anything!

Then we headed north and west towards the park and the ocean. We stopped at the Visitor center and got a suggestion for lunch at Lake Crescent Lodge and then we headed up to Hurrican ridge. It was breathtaking-the views of the Olympics and it was a beautiful day.We hiked over the ridge for views of the water and Port Angeles and then headed back down and made our way towards the Rainforest. There are lots of different climates in the park. Rainforests, oceans, mountains, it's really crazy. So we drove and stopped at Lake Crescent Lodge for lunch. Lake Crescent is a huge lodge in the middle of the park and it was so beautiful. The water was really clear and warm. I wanted to take a swim but we settled for lunch and looks.

Then we headed to the rainforest. I guess the rainforest doesn't get much rain in the summer. The moss was pretty brown and we didn't get to see any of those giant yellow and black banana slugs that the rainforest is so famous for! But we did take a nice walk and saw some really large trees and it was still nice and green!

Overall it was a great visit. I wish we had more time but we sure filled up the time we did have!

The Amazing Adventures of the Gifford Hertel Girls

I'm sitting at Cafe Allegro with my friend-Christopher Jette and trying to catch up on many many emails received and not answered...check out chris' blog, it's way more interesting than mine.

My mother and sister flew back east yesterday after three days of fun in the Seattle sun! Here is a abridged chronicle of what we did....

THURSDAY NIGHT

They arrived and we headed to my fav cafe-cafe on the ave for a little snack and some catching up. I had to work on Friday morning so we arranged for them to meet me downtown at my office around noon.

FRIDAY

We met up at my office and I took them up to the 73rd floor for a view of Seattle and the surrounding water and mountains (a much better view than the space needle and who could beat the price tag-free!) Then we headed to Pikes Place Market and walked around the market, ate homemade powdered donuts, and had lunch at Lowells with a view of the Sound. Then we headed over to catch the monorail from Downtown to the Space Needle. We rode the monorail just in time-it stalled the next day and is now defunct! Anyway, it was a short 5 minute ride, I think we waited for it longer than we were actually on it. The space needle was fun-we just admired it from ground level and browsed the gift shop. Then we went to a store with a sign that said "WoW this was made in Seattle" and mused about how much in the store was absolutely NOT made in Seattle. Good times.

Then we went back to my hood and walked down to Ivar's Salmon House on Lake Union.
Had a great dinner of salmon cakes topped off with chocolate mousse cake! It was delicioso.

SATURDAY

We started the day at my neighborhood farmers market. Eating Washington fruit and pastries while we enjoyed the seattle morning. Then we went resale shopping along the Ave and I found my sister a pair of jeans for fall. Then we did a tour of the parks along the Puget Sound-starting at the Ballard Locks where we watched some salmon jumping and enjoyed the day. Then we headed up to Ray's for lunch. Had a great view of the Sound as we ate some really great food and split a fruit cobbler for dessert. Mmmm. After lunch, we headed up to Golden Gardens State Park. The beaches and dunes were amazing, we walked up the beaches for a bit, enjoying weather. The mountains and the beaches were gorgeous. After our trip to Golden Gardens we headed south towards Magnolia to Discovery Park where we drove out to the Lighthouse and the beach-it was high tide so we sat on the rocks by the lighthouse and listened to the ocean. It was so nice in fact that mom and nora decided to lay down and listen to the waves. It was just grand.

Stay tuned for our Sunday adventures tomorrow-with more pictures of our trip to the Olympic Peninsula!

Silence is Golden

Sorry I've been remiss in posting over the past week. My mom, sister and I were out and about this weekend and I seem to have contracted some kind of ear infection. I'll download the pictures from our adventures this past weekend and post more soon.

Life isn't fair

That's what my mom told me...countless times. But as I get older the more I realize it really isn't. Anyone who knows me knows what's going on with my godson, Anderson. I just wanted to remind everyone to continue to keep him in your thoughts this week.

He has his first post-radiation MRI on Tuesday.

Look at all of the progress he's made since I last saw him...

My last visit...
A more recent picture...His parents are hosting a party to celebrate his extraordinary life. Anyone reading this blog should come and show support for them. They draw so much strength from it...

ANDERSON BUTZINE’S POST RADIATION LUAU!

Please join us in celebrating life and the many
miracles we all enjoy every day!

When: Saturday, August 26th; 1:00 PM until ???

Where: The Ixonia Fireman's Park Outdoor Pavilion
N8345 Park Street, Ixonia, WI

Dinner will be at 4:00 pm. Anyone willing and able is asked to please bring a side dish or dessert.

There will be a DJ, and don’t forget the HULA DANCING!
We will also have activities for adults and children.
(volleyball, horseshoes, cards, limbo, duck pond, and more!)

If you play an instrument, feel free to bring it along and join in with the family for a few songs!

Tammy Tietz has organized a silent auction to cover the costs of the party. For more information or to donate, please contact Tammy at rtctietz@sbcglobal.net. We will be recognizing all donors at the party and on Anderson’s Caringbridge site. The requested cut-off date to make a donation is August 20th.

RSVP to Michelle at: michellebutzine@hotmail.com

See-attle

Well, as Joel told me this week..."this is your last 'free' weekend in Seattle" and he's right! So, I spent my Saturday doing laundry, going for a run, reading and relaxing. I think tomorrow I'm going to go to a park or beach-not sure which one yet but I'll let you know!

I can't believe it but I only have 3 weeks left in my internship and I'm done! It's really amazing to think of everything I've learned in just 7 weeks. Amazing really.

I finished a book this morning. My friends Brian and Audrey gave it to me for my birthday, it's called Marley & Me about a guy and his dog. I really enjoyed. Of course, I bawled the last three chapters but it was a pretty interesting story and a quick read. I recommend it (especially for dog lovers)!

Joel complained that I didn't have any of the pictures he took of me on my blog so here's one he took while I was trying to figure out where the flip we were on our walk up to Capitol Hill.

It's really gorgeous here-I think I'm going to go outside and enjoy it!

Hella Tired

That's what I am. Super tired. I had a crazy day at work. The good news is...I finished up my intern project. We (my team) presented to about half of the office (55 people) on Tuesday morning. I think the presentation went well. It was on pandemic flu preparedness and we've heard nothing but great things! So, yeah!

The other news is...I had my "mid-point review" with my supervisor today even though I'm over 3/4 done. It was good. Really good. Joel and I have some big decisions coming up...but I'm confident we'll do what's right for us! She told me that I'm a "joy to work with" which I'm sure is a surprise to some of you!!

I love flowers...so cheers!

Weekend Wonders

I wrote this on Monday night...but for some reason it wouldn't let me post pics...so it was a bit delayed.

Joel just arrived back in Chicago :(. We had a great weekend hanging out in Seattle-even if he did miss his flight out here! On Saturday we got up early and went up to the Farmers Market and picked up some broccoli, green beans, a few really yummy pastries and some fruit (particularly good were the donut peaches-I'd never seen them before but they were tasty). It was fun to show Joel where I'd been going the last few weekends.

Then we headed to the capitol hill neighborhood. It was a pretty long walk but we got to watch the Blue Angels along the way because the Seattle SEAFAIR was happening (an air and water show) all weekend. Capitol hill neighborhood is on a hill...a really BIG hill so we walked around checking out some really awesome houses and walked to Volunteer Park-which is on the north end of the neighborhood. They have a conservatory with some really gorgeous flowers. check them out! Then we walked down to the main street in Capital Hill and stopped for some coffee (of course!) and then walked up and down looking at the shops. Finally, dinner at the Coastal Kitchen-which was excellent. It was recommended by a few interns and Joel had the herb-encrusted salmon and I had the ravioli fresca-excellent. I even ate some salmon-which was good!

Sunday we had brunch with some old friends at our favorite cafe and they suggested we check out the Ballard Locks-the Army Corps of Engineers run the locks going from the Puget Sound to the lakes around Seattle. It was really neat. They had a brass band playing Big Band music and they had some really pretty gardens and the locks themselves were pretty cool to watch. The highlight was the fish ladder. It's spawning season for the Chinook (King) Salmon and they are moving from the ocean to the freshwater to spawn. Watching them move up the ladder was amazing. Some of them were just jumping out of the water. It was amazing to watch. Then they have a place to watch them "resting" in a small pool that's part of the ladder.

We also watched V for Vendetta-both of us thought it was generic and the characters were flat...