Hey everyone! Greetings from Troy! This summer has been pretty laid back for me but I'm still lifting and swimming and doing what I need to do; it's my last year so I gotta go big or go home...graduate...hopefully not end up back at home...

Anyways I'm working with the captains to plan an awesome start of the year BBQ so we can have an afternoon of fun and get to know the freshmen before the year starts! We're also doing our annual trip to the racetrack one of the school weekends so get excited for these two super fun swim team events (yay team bonding)!

As far as workouts go I can say that I work out every weekday, and do something fun every weekend aka cruising around on my beach bike! I've been lifting twice a week and doing cardio everyday but have unfortunately run into some back problems. This week I even got the have these cool knife shaped (but not sharp!) things prodded into my back...something about stress...probably shouldn't worry about it (bad stress joke). Right now is the time to really start getting back into the swing of things with swimming. If you haven't gotten in the water at all you definitely should. Captains practices will be here before you know and you'll be a lot happier not dying, trust me! Hitting the ground running will not only keep you from drowning during test sets, but also give you more time to get better, faster and stronger!

Marissa and I have been having a blast at 2218 and have recently added crafting and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movies to our routine. Were looking for more movie ideas so if you have any send me a list!! Summer in Troy has offered a lot of opportunities for me in my research department. I'm even helping a PhD student who is getting a patent! I've been doing a lot of manufacturing and making prototypes, but when the whole job gets finished I'm most excited to see it in the real world, oh and add it to my resume #jobstatus.

Miss you guys!

- Ellen