Summer 2011

Wow, all of the sudden it's almost August! June and July were exciting months for us as it has been a busy busy summer.

June started off with some big career activities for both Megan and Ryan. Megan submitted her first NIH grant, which was a huge relief. In bigger news, Ryan finished his fellowship interviews and chose to accept a prestigious 1-year cardiovascular anesthesia fellowship at Texas Heart in Houston, which starts in late summer 2012. Unfortunately this means that Megan and Ryan will likely be apart for a year while Ryan is away, so they will both look forward to adding up frequent flier miles that year.

After all of that exciting news, it was perfect timing for the much anticipated Markey family trip to San Francisco and Hawaii! We had an amazing time checking out Jeff's "spacious" studio apartment in San Fran and exploring the city. Ryan even found an In and Out Burger to explore.


We sadly left Jeff behind in San Fran to head to beautiful Maui, where we had an incredible vacation that included snorkeling, hiking, film festival watching, and other exciting activities. It was a WONDERFUL trip and we couldn't be more grateful to Mom and Dad Markey for the great time. Thanks guys!




After returning from our exotic Hawaii trip, it was back to business as usual in Chicago for a few weeks. Megan and Ryan started running more regularly, with Megan beginning training for her first half marathon (Sept 11!) and Ryan being a very supportive spouse. We enjoyed a relaxed 4th of July holiday, including attending a house warming party for our friends Brooke and Mike. Megan decided it was time for more traveling, so she left Ryan as a single dog parent for 2 1/2 weeks while she enjoyed a great trip to Tennessee to visit with Notre Dame friends (including her friend Katie's two adorable sons!) for a weekend, then spent 2 weeks at a research training sponsored by the NIH in Warrenton, Virginia. Ryan celebrated his birthday with Loyola and ND friends at his favorite gourmet burger place, Kuma's and (later) began training for his fall soccer league with a work friend, Dan. Ryan also made a trip to South Bend for Grandma Buersmeyer's big birthday party and had a great time with the fam, including a trip to see the new Harry Potter movie.

As July comes to a close we are happy to have the family back together in Chicago and hoping that the crazy heat that has hit this summer is nearly behind us. More updates to come!