General Updates from the last year or so.
For family and friends that don’t live close, here’s a general update on the recent big events. As you may know, Chris graduated from college May of 2005, was offered a good job with Philips Medical and we moved to the Madison area shortly thereafter. He started in June, we found a nice apartment, got a little Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppy we named Atari, and I found a new job there as well, which I started in August of 2005. Our little niece was also born in September, and she’s quite possibly the most adorable little girl you will ever see. With the wedding on October 1st, 2 new jobs, a new puppy, and a move, it was a hectic summer and fall.
We were looking forward to a calmer 2006, but things never happens the way you think they will. My grandma was diagnosed with advanced Leukemia in May and passed away in August. We tried visiting as much as we could over the summer of 2006, but it’s never enough. We also found out in July that the partnership (and thus the department) Chris was working for was being dissolved, so he had to spend some more time looking for a new position, which he found staying with Philips. It’s a great company to work for, so we were both glad the opportunity to stay with them came up. We had also been looking for a new place to live since mid summer, since our apartments were being turned into condos. With the upheaval at work, we put house hunting on hold until we were sure he had a new position there. We found a house we liked and closed on it September 15th, the Friday before he started his new position. We also found a new home for the bunny before moving, and he has been much happier in his new home, where he can roam about not being chased by a crazy little dog. To celebrate our first home, we had both families over for Thanksgiving. It turned out to be quite the busy year after all last year! Perhaps this year will be calmer 
For those of you who aren’t bombarded with the constant stories of our crazy little Atari, here is some background. First of all, she’s totally nuts. She never stops running, and wow can she fly. She has the shortest little legs (being a Corgi and all), but I have never seen such a fast little dog. She gains on the rabbits she chases around the yard, and loves nothing better than to run full speed. Well except maybe to bark ;) She’s extremely vocal, and extremely smart. And no, not that “she’s my dog so I think she’s brilliant” kind of smart. She picks things up very quickly and you can only fool her maybe twice with the same trick, then you best learn a new one. She’s stubborn and sadly smart enough to realize she can choose not to listen (consequences be damned) if she doesn’t feel like it. She’s definitely given us a lot of laughs though, that’s for sure. She loves to be around anyone and loves any attention she can ham out of people. We have a pair of dogs in the yard behind us that she has coaxed into running back and forth along the fence with her whenever they are all out, and loves nothing more than tackling big dogs to play. You can also definitely see the “herder” in her, especially if you move at anything faster than a walk down the hallway ;) She also has a knack for catching little critters, as I learned early when she was just under a year old and caught her first bird. Not a fun morning that one, trying to pry a little bird out of her mouth while she refused to let go, being so proud of her first kill. To say the least, there are not too many dull moments with her around hehe