Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Gooseberry Falls

Peter and I went camping. Our first time camping together. We went up north to Gooseberry Falls State Park.
We decided to take a little trip for our second wedding anniversary.
Here are some photos of the trip.



















Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Original Art

My uncle Mike, is a very creative guy.

(Melena we know where you get it ;)

Here's the Story...

Around Thanksgiving we went to Brainerd. My aunt and uncle Marty and Julie live there and Cindy and Mike just moved there into their retirement home.
It is this gorgeous log cabin style house on the river. We had a tour of there house with the great views out every window.

Other than the amazing views I noticed these great square wooden frames filled with wine corks in an artsy arrangement. There was 2 or 3 frames of the same size and the abstract appearance of the corks was so fun, so creative and so green. So naturally I raved over them and asked "Where did you get these, they are fantastic!" (being the wine lover that I am) My cousin Jenessa replied that her dad, my uncle Mike made them. Uncle Mike is always making creative projects and things. He always used to make creative things to give to all of Cindy's sisters at Christmas. I told Jenessa, tell your dad I love that!

So today is my first day of official summer break, now that my classroom is all cleaned up.
To my surprise to start summer break I received a package today.
Inside the box full of packing peanuts was my very own original wine cork art in a beautiful homemade wood frame.

Etched on the back of the frame it said "Happy Anniversary Peter and Cassie."

It made me tear up a little....how thoughtful that he made one for us, that he remembered how much I loved it.

And how great that they got to drink 60 plus bottles of wine to do it!

Thanks Mike and Cindy that was very thoughtful.

Now it's hanging by our wine glass cabinet and wine rack.



PS: Can you see the hidden L design in the corks?

Friday, June 5, 2009

All Out of Air

Thursday morning I woke up as usual. I got dressed and ready to go for the day, hoped in my car and began to drive.
As I pulled off the side of the road, I hear crunch...ch...ch..ch .... and notice my car is leaning a little too far to the left. It's got to be a flat tire.

What am I going to do I'd already pulled off the road and am in the middle of the intersection of 54th and 47th, of course we live on a one way.
So quickly I pull another left down the alley.
I get to our back driveway. And of course our other car is parked there so I can't stop there and I defiantly can't stop in the alley because cars can't get through.

So what now?

Keep driving.

So I continue to drive on a totally flat tire down the long alley and back up our block to our house.
I'm not sure what the rules are for driving on a flat tire but I was really afraid I broke something more.
The sounds I heard as I crunched along did not sound promising.
When I finally reached the safety of our curb I took a look at the tire.
No puncture or cut to the tire, it just looked like it was cracked from wear and tear.

Luckily, Peter takes the light rail so I could run in and grab his spare key, easily making it to work only 15 minutes late.

Luckily, the tire was already flat and didn't slowly flatten as I drove to work so I'd be stranded on the freeway.

Luckily, I have this great fixer guy close by who can easily put on a spare... until I can get a new one.









Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Trying to get it right,




Peter and I are trying to be better dog owners.


Here's Max, in his kennel. We are trying to get him used to it so he doesn't bark all the time when we put him in. We have extended the length of time each time and give him little treats when he's quiet.


If he's comfortable in a kennel it will make it much easier when he's staying with someone else or when we bring him to some one's house.


Wait... there's more... after having him for almost a year we are finally taking him to dog training class.


Sundays at 6:15 for 6 weeks at the end of June.
Better late than never!

Monday, June 1, 2009

things to be thankful for...

Even on days that seem to just drag on you can always find something to be thankful for.
I am thankful for the large maple tree in our front yard. It shades our house and gives us something big and beautiful to look at out our front window.

The only bad thing about our enormous tree are the leaves in the fall and the seeds in the spring... what a mess!



I am also thankful for flowers that are so colorful and intricately different from each other.
Here is a rose and an iris...gorgeous.




Here's Max, someone else I'm thankful for...watching the crazy lady out the window taking pictures of flowers and trees. (yep, that's me)
He loves to look out the glass door and watch the day go by.