- Kaleb is still holding down the fort in Milwaukee. He is working in Kenosha and staying busy with long hours and a long commute. He never complains about the long hours, drive, or being without his wife the past few months. I think he is still really enjoying his work at CarMax and he comes up to visit me when he can. I miss him and appreciate him so much!
- I am still living in Rhinelander with my parents (about four hours from our home in Milwaukee) finishing up my internship at the day treatment center. I am VERY happy to say that out of 600 hours I only have 18 hours left!!! I should finish up the internship by the end of next week and will soon thereafter have a Master's degree in Counseling.
- A few weeks after starting my internship my mom was diagnosed with a soft tissue sarcoma in her leg. Since I have been living back home with her she has endured five weeks of radiation, a major surgery to remove the tumor, a minor surgery to insert a mediport, and has just begun inpatient chemotherapy. She is admitted to a hospital M-F to recieve 7 chemo treatments of two chemo agents. We are on day four of the first week. She will go into the hospital every three weeks for 4-6 rounds of treatment. She has been doing well this week. Wiped out...but well! It will be a long road but we have a great deal of faith in a postitive prognosis.
- I am in the process of looking for work back in the Milwaukee area. This has proven to be an "interesting" (such a positive word!) process. After recieving a masters degree, I need to complete 3000 hours (two years of full time work) of clinical therapy that is supervised and a board exam in order to recieve a license. Unfortunately, most jobs as a therapist require you to have a license...classic catch 22! There are very few opportunities to find a paying job that will allow me to practice therapy under the license of a supervisor to help me gain 3000 hours to get a license. So, if anyone out there knows of a therapist or clinic that offers supervision to their masters level employers (emphasis on employer...meaning paid at some level) PLEASE let me know. So, that search is on! In the mean time it has been a blessing to be at my parent's home to help out with mom's treatment. I have the flexbility to come stay at the hospital with her during week long treatment and provide a small measure of support. Basically I am the jobless/childless one who has time (I don't mean that to sound cold...just true...and I have found it to be a blessing.) My husband, our budget, and to a degreee my sanity need me back in Milwaukee and home in the near future. But all things have a way of working out for the best. We will see what the next few months hold.
- For those who wonder...and are polite about not asking...we do not have children yet...but hope to soon. We did look at adoption and went through that process for awhile. We may revisit it in the future. We had a successful pregnancy last year but lost the baby during a Christmas miscarriage. It was very tough...but we are hopeful that pregnancy is a possibility! No news yet...but we are hopeful to be parents someday. For now, we couldn't be happier loving our 7 nieces and three nephews (all in Wisconsin and close by except for one nephew who we miss a ton!!!)
- This summer two of my siblings and their families moved back to the Rhinelander area near my parents. Now all of the siblings (except for a brother at BYU-I and one on a mission) are settled back in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I have enjoyed being in the area with them and their families. It will be strange when I actually move back home to Milwaukee and am away from them all.
- Well, this has gotten long and boring. No pictures either! My camera is not with me in the hospital...mom would not have appreciated the thought of a camera nearby!!! I will steal a few pictures from my sister-in-law's blog to wet your appetite for a future post that I need to get done with my most recent pictures. The Lindner side of our family spent a fantastic week together with Dad, Mom, and six of the seven siblings and their families gathered under one gigantic roof! We missed Alex (who is serving a mission), but got a few of his friends Breanne and Tony to come stay in his stead! We stayed for a week in Presque Isle, Wisconsin in a beautiful lake home (thanks Kolts family). The home fit our family of 20 with room to spare. It was heaven.
The water trampoline. The water was chilly and we would swim out, sit on the trampoline and get really warm. After getting dry and warm it was torture to jump back in to swim to shore! 
Jake's nice "swan dive" out towards the trampoline!
LOL...ummm well...these two pictures are of the spanking machine. This was the penalty if you were caught with the Catch Phrase buzzer in your hand. Adult game night after kids were in bed lasted for hours and was hilarious. The stories are endless....
Here are 4 of the 7 neices. Ella, Cassidy, Lucy, and Meela. Uncle Kaleb found the girls PINK icecream cones! It kindof looks like we deprived Meela of a cone. She did have one...she just ate it really quickly!!!
A little basketball after a rain storm.I will have to get some more pictures of the vacation posted to record the awesome memories.
So there is a taste of our life the past month.
We are pluggin' along.
Hope that you and yours are happy and healthy!
