A brief update on my life wanderings and happenings.

     So in the last several weeks a lot of interesting things have happened. One event I was part of, however, happened quite some time ago and thus deserves to be mentioned first. On June 14 (Last month I realize I'm really getting behind. Still getting used to this whole blog thingy) I had the opportunity and enormous privilege of being a groomsmen in my cousin Phil's and my good friend Nicole's wedding. It was, needless to say, a  truly beautiful thing to see these two people, who I both love dearly, united in love (I was literally crying when Nicole started walking down the aisle). On top of all the greatness of wedding, I also got to wear these awesome purple socks, get a new tailored suit, and eat a lot of really good food cooked by my mom (Who, if you don't happen to know, happens to be the best cook in the world). Seeing extended family from all over the world come together to celebrate was also an added bonus, particularly reuniting with those friends I hadn't seen in a long time (i.e. Greg and Alanna, Uncle Steve, Steven, Bethany, Mike, kids, etc.). Below are a few pictures from the wedding, all taken by photographers extraordinaire Kathy  and Tim Hall. I apologize for any degradation in quality due to the internet. Note: If any of you are expecting tons of wedding pictures, think again. I'm not pinterest.
    

 Bridal Party

Philip and Nicole Dudley

     Unfortunately the time passed much to quickly and within three days I was already flying back to Au Sable, that beautiful place nestled amidst the red pines, to continue identifying macroinvertebrates (See previous posts if you don't know what a macroinvertebrate is). Today I finally made it through all 156 or so of my insects identifying them down to the genus level. Now comes the long, somewhat annoying, but ultimately rewarding part of doing the stats and writing up a professional scientific report. I have already gotten started on the paper, but much remains to be done and little time (Five or so weeks) to do it in. Anyway asides from working on the research, yesterday was the Fourth of July (As you probably knew, unless you weren't paying attention). Au Sable staff and families, consequently put on a wonderful picnic on the beach of Big Twin Lake (Look it up if you're wondering where it is) full of wonderful food such as grass fed beef, salad with fresh strawberries, and local ice cream with cherries in it. I played so much volleyball last night my back was sore the next day (Need to learn to stop diving for every ball). Anyway the firework display put on around the lake was truly remarkable and may have even rivaled the display last year at the secret base on Fox Island (I realize only a few people will get this reference, but it's still true).
     This afternoon I had the enjoyable and quite exhausting opportunity of going butterfly catching. For about an hour or so I ran through grass, weeds, and tall ferns searching for elusive butterflies for the Butterfly Day going on tomorrow at the institute (http://ausable.org/), and it was incredible. Despite the itchiness of the legs, the sweat dripping down my back, and the unrelenting heat, I felt incredibly happy coming back with a sole butterfly. How often do you get an excuse to go running around the countryside swinging a net back and forth like a lunatic? Tomorrow I am running a 5k (if I can will myself to get up early for it). Not sure how much will be running and how much will be walking. We'll see. Anyway, hopefully this post has not been entirely boring. Should post something else in the near future. Also sorry for the sheer number of parentheses in this post. I like them and have a tendency to use them as often as possible even when they are entirely unnecessary (Such as here).