She seemed like a lot better match personality wise for Grace than Luke, and multiple people said how much she resembled Grace both in markings and mannerisms. With the fear of her being adopted, Lesley and I moved quickly to adopt her as we knew that she would be a perfect companion for Grace.

They are both shy cats, so it may take a while to get over the fear of each other, but I have no doubts in my mind that they will be fine together. Pumpkin is tiny (only about 8 pounds) so even if she gets fiesty Grace can just threaten to eat her!

Grace was terrified of him. She was very reclusive and hid whenever he was around, even if he wasn't chasing her (which happened frequently). She was gaining weight and overall had a very uncharacteristic sad disposition. We had to keep the cats separate at night, otherwise he would chase her loudly (to prevent for our sleeping sake) and would not take the cue of her growling to stop. Since I was starting work and Lesley was starting school, we would have had to keep them separate a lot more than we wanted to during the day as well.

Luke was stressed out from us yelling at him when he did chase Grace. He had developed bad acne on his chin, and despite our best efforts to prevent the spread of and cure it, it lingered. Since he has been back at the shelter, it has gone completely away and the fur which he scratched off from itching it grew back.

He is such a sweet boy and has adapted to being back at the shelter quickly, (of course) being friendly with all the cats. He came to us every time we went to visit him and loved to be held or on our laps for a long time.

Today, Luke got taken to another home. Another volunteer at the shelter had loved him when we adopted him. Finding themselves in good fortune, with us bringing him back, they did not hesitate to adopt him. I am happy that he does not have to be at the shelter anymore, as it killed both Lesley and I to see him kenneled there (while he was getting readjusted), but I know we will both miss seeing him. I wrote the couple who adopted him a letter in the hopes that we may keep in contact and get updates regarding him. Though I may not be his father anymore, he will always be my cat-son.

The position is a bit intimidating because many of the techniques required are currently outside of my skill set, but I am excited to learn. It will be a great opportunity for me and a wonderful experience for my resume in the future. I'll even get some supervisor experience since I primarily will be running the lab with an undergraduate student under me.

Besides the job being great in itself, working for the university means that I get great benefits, including full health insurance. The job is on the St. Paul campus, so it is a 5 minute drive from our apartment, as well as a relatively short bus ride/walk. I currently am taking the bus since parking is so expensive but once we thaw out from winter I will be able to ride my bike there. The job starts on February 11th and Lesley and I could not be happier.

Dad with Luke!

We had appetizers and drinks and Becca even came to meet the family! :)

Sunday was the big day of graduation. We all headed over to campus and Northrop auditorium in one vehicle. It was quite the adventure squeezing into the minivan but we made it! After we made it through the auditorium, which was a feat in itself, I went to line up with the other grads and everyone else went to find seats. After I waited in line for what seemed like forever, I finally got to seat down in the auditorium, but then spent the rest of the time anxiously awaiting the big walk across the stage. I was quite sure I was going to trip, but thank goodness I did not. The ceremony was nice, especially since one of my favorite professors was there to receive an award. He even congratulated me during my big walk across the stage!

There I am!

Greg and I :)

After the nearly three hour ceremony, it was finally over and I could finally go see everyone. We got to take some nice pictures and it only took us about a half an hour to weave our way out of the auditorium and find the car. We then went out for dinner in Roseville at Granite City. We all had a very nice meal and there were gifts! :) That was the completion of our big graduation weekend due to the excessive amount of homework we still had to complete.

Fortunately, we are almost done now. Greg has one last final tomorrow and I have a couple next week, but they aren't dampering my excitement! We have some very fun plans for the weekend with Becca and Richie and David's graduation party. I am really looking forward to seeing them all before Christmas break :)

We have named him Luke Skywalker! Well actually, I liked the name Luke for him but Greg insisted on the Skywalker part so I caved lol! He is about 5 years old and full of energy. As I said before, he is dark gray with medium length fur. He LOVES to cuddle! But he is also quite the little spitfire. He really enjoys tearing through the apartment chasing mice toys and sometimes Grace :)! She doesn't think too much of that, but they are growing to love each other.

Cuddle Buddies!!

We are very happy about the new addition and glad to be able to give him a loving home! He also looks forward to meeting you all! Meow!

Grace was truly mesmerized by the whole situation. She of course chewed on the branches of the tree , hid underneath it, and tried to play with the ornaments. But nothing would compare to her infatuation with this Santa Clause stuffed animal. After we decorated, we had to go to the shelter and when we got back she had dragged him off the table, across the room, up onto the chair and proceeded to lay on top of him and fall asleep! She is such a ham! What are we going to do with her!

Anyway, now we are just having a relaxing day together here at home. We have the first real snow fall of the year today too! Perfect to cuddle up and relax in front of our newly decorated fireplace :)!

We headed back to Wisconsin on Wednesday night and enjoyed an nice dinner with my dad at good old Cranky Pats since mom was working at Macy's then Greg went down to Milwaukee to spend some time with his mom and dad. I enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving with the whole gang at grandma and grandpa Schmidts' including all three dogs! It was very nice to see everyone and we actually ended up having a family picture taken of all of us on Friday, since the last one that was taken was nearly eighteen years ago (I think)! Wow I didn't realize it had been that long but I was the only kinder in it and I was only 4 or 5! So I think that was nice to have a picture of us all. As well, mom and I went shopping on Friday before she had to work and dad and I went after I dropped her off so I had quite the busy day. After my came home, we went to Fartello's in Appleton for dinner with grandma and grandpa Metzig. The next day Greg came up and we headed home.

After we got home, we enjoyed a little time to relax, but just a little. We went to the shelter and I started one studying for all my exams and papers I have to do, as well as going to work! But I am happy to say, as of today I have six papers done and only two more to go! YEAH!

Now I am getting prepared for graduation in a couple of weeks. Mom and Dad, and all the grandparents will be come to celebrate so I am really looking forward to that! We are going to have a party and everyone is going to come watch me walk at commencement!

Becca and Lesley celebrating at Applebee's on campus.

But speaking of the shelter...there is a new kitty that Greg has become very attached to named Mr. MacGregor! He is quite the cutie and very friendly. He loves to cuddle and be pet. He is a medium haired kitty like Grace but a bit bigger and darker gray. We think Grace needs a boyfriend! lol We will have to see about that!

Coming up, my parents will be visiting next weekend to go to the Wisconsin/Gopher football game so it will be nice to see them. Hopefully we can do some shopping to considering mom's new adventure into the retail sales at Macy's! I plan to enjoy that discount! Hopefully I can find a dress for graduation!

As well, Greg's parents came to visit this past weekend and we went to the MN State Fair. The fairgrounds are quite close to our place, so we headed over there and enjoyed all sorts of food and sites. It was very nice to see them and a good way to celebrate the holiday weekend before the beginning of the school year!

When you walk in the door, the living room is to your left and the dining area is on your right. There is a nice big closet in the dining room area that has coats as well as a side with shelves for a pantry. You can also see into the kitchen through the dining area.

As you walk down the hall, the kitchen is on your right.

Continuing down the hall, there is a utility room on the right complete with washer/dryer.

Directly across from that is the 2nd bedroom which we are using as an office/den/guest room. The futon makes it extremely versatile and there is a nice closet in there for extra stuff.

Finally, at the end of the hallway, the bathroom is on the right (not pictured) and our bedroom is on the left. It has a nice walkin closet which Lesley wasted no time in filling up with all of her clothes!

We love our new apartment and hope that everyone will come to visit us and see it sometime soon!

Grace has had a fun time exploring and finding places to hide. Grandpa Metzig made Grace an amazing scratching post that she has spent a lot of time on already. The three of us greatly appreciate it, thank you Victor/Grandpa!

We knew from Dawn's that Grace loves the patio door, but since we are on the 2nd floor she had to find a way to elavate herself.

Lastly, I decided to show her most creative hiding spot, which is on top of our cupboards. She actually lays down on the highest one (the cupboard directly above the microwave in the picture) and you literally cannot see her...needless to say I could not find her yesterday morning until I opened the refrigerator only to see a head peek out from above!

We love our new place and are looking forward to the next year here. Thank you to both our Moms and Dads for helping us to move. We could not have done it without your help (nor have lived very well without your furniture donations). We love you!

Lions and tigers and bears, Oh my!

Besides the zoo, there is also a beautiful conservatory filled with various plants. The Japanese Garden was especially pretty and acts as a symbol to the fact that St. Paul is the sister city to Nagasaki.

A short walk from the zoo and conservatory (if you haven’t already guessed, the park is extremely large) they also have an antique carousel dating nearly 100 years old. As you can see below, the four of us had fun riding it!

We will enjoy having the park so close while we live in our new apartment!

On Saturday after I arrived with Jody, John, Collin, and Morgan, we found our way down to State Street where there was a large art festival going on. The art was nice to look at albeit pricey, but the highlight of that endeavor was the fresh kettle corn that we bought.

Here is Lesley and I with a guest appearance from her cousin Collin. :)

Saturday evening was spent mingling at Karen and Mel’s enjoying the various appetizers and drinks, and for dinner they served lasagna and pizza on the grill which was a new experience for us. I also “participated” in lawn games such as croquet (read: even the seven year old beat me). Sunday morning involved a brunch hosted again by Karen and Mel, which again had amazing food. All in all, a very fun weekend and we will look forward to seeing the family again soon!

Here we all are!