Thanksgiving and beyond!

It was so wonderful to get out of Norfolk and get on the open road - only it wasn't as "open" as I had hoped! Holiday traffic made it a little more stressful than I had expected, but I made it to Wilmington, North Carolina in about 5.5 hours. Of course I was sad that Tito was not with me, but he had a lot of homework to do, so I took a much needed ladies trip to see my soul sister Aimee! Aimee just moved to Wilmington from Bend, Oregon where she was a wilderness therapist. She is now pursuing her dreams on the East coast - who woulda' thought...?Here is Aimee in her adorable apartment! We attempted to hang pictures, but we spent most of our time talking, relaxing and just hanging around... I was really appreciating a break from my school work. I brought it with me, but I didn't do a bit of it :)
Thanksgiving day, we took a little walk down to the Cape Fear River. This was an accidental shot, but I love it, it captures how happy Aimee is and I love to see her like that...

Why are my feet so much bigger than hers? Oh that's right - Aimee has "carnival" hands and feet haha!
We both ended up talking to our families over the phone right about this time. It was great to hear all of their voices and the sunset was beautiful!
I think this is the best photo that Aimee and I have ever taken together.
Thanksgiving dinner that night was perfect, we had domino's, chips and salsa, libations, our friend Corey, and the neighbors cat Mabel! We stayed up until 4 in the morning playing domino's and listening to music. Good Times!

It was really hard to leave Wilmington, but the exciting part is that we live so close now we can meet up more often. So we said goodbye and I headed back home to see my Tito on Saturday to celebrate our two year anniversary! It was my turn to plan date night, I got home around 6 PM and Tito was still working on homework, I took him to Boston Market for dinner and we came back to the house and I promptly fell fast asleep while we were watching movie. Oh well, guess we have the rest of our lives to celebrate - huh? :)

We have been busy finishing up school. I had my last two finals last night and Tito is finishing up tonight. He was up late last night cooking empanadas for his multicultural class and he is cooking a turkey for his work Xmas party on Friday - I will be baking some pies too. We'll let you know how everything turns out :) Last weekend I got to go on a trip with the Outdoor program through Tony's work. We drove up to Charlottesville Friday night and camped and were planning on climbing Old Rag mountain on Saturday. It is supposed to be a really hard hike, but beautiful.

So when we got to the campground it was already dark and of course Tony couldn't just put up the tent because that would be too easy. So he made a game out of it, he was blindfolded, and Christina couldn't talk and they each had one leg tied together and I was not allowed to touch anything. As you can see it was quite a challenge, and we were all laughing so hard I am not sure how the tent actually got set up...
This is my favorite picture when Christina is stuck under the tent... :)
This is the hike the next day! Winterwonderland! It was so beautiful, such a great way to spend a Saturday!
Unfortunately this was as far as we got, the snow was covering the trail and the trailmarkers, so our fearless leaders called it and we had to turn around. We weren't too disappointed cause really it is more important to live in my opinion ;)
This is my attempt at a timed photo so that we could all be in the picture...
Awesome!
And then at the bottom it was just rain.... oh well, the snow provided the magic on the hike that kept our spirits up and made me feel like it was truly the holiday season. The last time Tony and I were in snow like that we were in Chama with Sunny and Steven cross country skiing to a Yurt. Fond memories, good times.... gotta love it!

So that is all for now, we are headed up North on the 19th - Ohio first and then CT after that, we are looking forward to seeing as many people as we can fit into our schedule!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Festivas and Happy New Year (and anything else anyone out there celebrates)!

Holiday Season Approaches

Thanksgiving has just past.  Time for catch up.  Neither of us has had time to complete personal projects, school, or visit with friends.  It has been nice to have 4 to 6 days off depending on who you ask in this household

I spent my time catching up on homework,  Reading 6 long chapters for a Diversity Climate Study that is due on Wed the 2nd,  Also writing a 6 to 8 page paper on Shadowing a Professional that is a different minority than myself, FIXING THE TRUCK, I have at least bought the parts.  Not fixed yet but reading the book to fix it.  We will soon see if I ruin it for good.  Watch a bit of football (Actually no TV, so listened to it), Lounged and actually read a book and finished it now I feel I can move to another.  Read some other peoples blogs (you should check out all of them on the side there), and Lastly Bought my parents with the help of some other people a 4 night 5 day cruise for 230 a person out of Miami when they are in Florida.  CAN YOU believe that cost.  Mom and Dad bought 1 full ticket so that helped  Amazing.  I hope they enjoy it in the Bahamas.  SEE the world I tell them.  They only live once.  Learn languages and enjoy.  I AM TRYING TO GET THEM TO SKIP FLORIDA and travel to Alaska and British Columbia all the Summer of 2011.  I know they like Florida but see other places.  So much that needs to be explored.  We will see if they listen or not.  Mostly, I feel Like I am ready to finish the semester strong since I spent most of my time doing homework. No just need proofreaders.  WHO IS UP FOR IT?  

As for Cassie, She had to work until Wednesday so not as much time off.  She left that same afternoon to go and visit her friend Amy who has just moved to the Carolina Coast from Oregon.  She had not seen her in a while.  Great women bonding weekend that they are both in need of.  She returns today I am sure late which is good.  I am still finishing papers.   I will have to let her fill you in on the details of her personal trip, but I know she has enjoyed the time.

We are looking forward to seeing both our families in the upcoming weeks.  I am finished with school and work around the 11th of December.  Cassie works until Dec 18 and we will head to Ohio for a few days and then to CT for a few days and then return to the grind.  We are almost a 1/4 of the way done with schooling again.  At least Cassie is.  I will be 1/4 done with my bookwork.  Then finish a dissertation!  Man......I just don't know.  A lot in the world is happening.  I feel I need to get out there and make positive changes, than write a paper that takes 5 years.  Who knows what the decision will be.

Well Happy Thanksgiving and onto the winter holidays!  Be safe, be warm, mostly be happy with your family and friends.

Love you all

Tony and Cassie 

Fall 2009

So now that we are referring to our lives according to what semester of school we are enrolled in, we have done a lot in Fall 2009... our updates are certainly not as exciting as they were this time last year, but we are feeling really good about where we are so that puts a smile on our faces.

Some of the things that have happened:

1. Sept 25th my friend Jaime had a baby girl named Hazel

2. Sept 26th I flew to NYC to attend my friend Nicolle's wedding reception (She and Dan got married back in July in Mexico) Nicolle and I were roomates in college and we played volleyball together. Our parents are friends as well so my parents came to the reception too. It was a good chance to see them! (see pics below)

3. My parents closed on a house in Cape Cod! it's official, the Benson Family has a home in Brewster, MA down the street from my Aunt and Uncle's house. It will be where my parents retire to. We are all very excited about that!

4. Tony turned 35 on Oct 18th

5. We hosted two very nice people who were attending a conference in Norfolk through Couchsurfing.com and it was a success. They were very nice and they were in town during Tony's birthday and they gave us both gifts!

6. We went to 2 ODU football games the second one was on Halloween, it is the first year for football at this school so it was kind of a big deal

7. Tony went to Minneapolis for the AORE conference (Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education) and was voted to their board of directors as Student Representative. This means he will be the voice of the students and help plan the conference next year and attend it totally free - oh yeah - and it happens to be in Colorado!

8. We weathered a Nor'easter this past week in which everything was shut down for Thursday and Friday - see the video and pics below... we walked down to the beach and there was no beach...interesting to be in a Nor'easter when snow isn't involved.

9. We harvested the beets in our garden and made them for dinner, we also got beets at the store. Can you tell which ones we grew and which ones were from the store? It may not be a surprise, but the one the size of a nickel is ours and the big ones are from the store. We are going to try to keep working on our gardening skills, but so far it has only yielded cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and really small beets.

That's all for now... if anyone is still out there!

xo C & T

Tony TINY DANCER

Karen's Wedding, Caitlyn's Visit & West Virginia

It has been a little while since I have had a chance to blog. It seems Tony may have given it up entirely, but I am sure he will make a reappearance at some point. We have had a busy summer which is nearing its close here in Virginia. But before we headed back to school, we had some fun with friends and family. Tony went to two weddings back to back, one in L.A. on Sat Aug 8th and then one in New York on the 9th. He accomplished this by taking the red-eye flight between the two cities. All were impressed with his traveling skills. I was a bridesmaid for my good friend Karen and here in the pic below you can see a few of the bridemaids enjoying our time getting ready for the wedding together. We were all competing to see who could be the best bridesmaid. Karen had points she was giving or taking away based on our actions... it was hilarious and I still think I won, though Erica definitely threw in some sabotage techniques to try to take me down... haha :)

We had the rehearsal for the beautiful outdoor wedding a few hours before the event. Karen's little cousins were learning how to walk down the isle. The only way we got the little guy down the isle was to tell him he was a pirate carrying an important treasure to bring to the bride and groom. He was very cute!

In between pictures and the ceremony...

We all excitedly waited for the ceremony!

And then we danced all night long! Here is a pic of my parents and Karen's parents. They all went to college together at the University of Bridgeport and that is how our family friendship began. It was great to see everyone and enjoy such a beautiful wedding together.

We got home Monday to a beautiful surprise! Well not really a surprise, but Jen, Matt, and Caitlyn were driving through and stayed the night at our house!

We had a fantastic dinner on the pier at Ocean View restaurant and enjoyed the evening after a really hot day. Caitlyn was all smiles and laughs and I was very proud to watch her roll over and over and over again! It is amazing how fast she is growing!

Then came school! Tony is loving his job as graduate assistant at Old Dominion. Part of his job is to train college students to be trip leaders and he co-lead a week long training where they did rock climbing, backpacking, canoeing and kayaking. All the students love him and he is making quite an impression on the faculty. He found out he received A's on the classes he took this summer and is off to a good start. He has three classes this semester.

I found out late in the game that I was awarded a graduate fellowship which just about covered my tuition with the student loan money I received. So I decided to go for it and enroll in the 2 year program instead of 3 year at Norfolk State University. It means that I am working 20 hours/week, taking 4 classes, and participating in a practicum for 15 hours/week. It is busy, but I am loving it! I am shadowing the school social worker at a title 1 elementary school in Virginia Beach. I am absolutely where I am supposed to be as far as my education which feels really good.

After two weeks of classes we took a rare opportunity for a three day labor day weekend break.
We hopped in the car on Friday afternoon with a few maps and ended up in the Mongehela National Forest just over the border into West Virginia. It was beautiful, woodsy, hilly, and much cooler than the coast. We enjoyed a great hike and 30 mile bike ride and did homework by the campfire. It was great! Here are some pics...

We caught sight of a river otter right here swimming up to his home.

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

Aaaahhh Virginia...

The sights from our new home. The week before last, Tony and I decided to go for a sunset walk down to the beach 3 blocks from our house. Here are some of the sights we saw. In this picture you can see a large group of people in the water between the pier and the line of posts coming out of the water. They were laughing and splashing. It seemed to be a large family with many members still on shore enjoying themselves as the day slipped down into a comfortable evening. As we walked by they circled a few young ones and started singing happy birthday to some of their family members. It was such a beautiful moment to witness. It was fun to hear the laughter.
As we continued our walk, we stopped on the pier and watched as the fisherman were catching fish right next to us. As the sun set, I took this picture of two fisherman who were enjoying the evening out in the water.
This is the pier restaurant which was busy the night we took this walk. We didn't go in, but we enjoyed listening to some surprisingly good kereoke and noticed that we seemed to be in a gay friendly part of town. We enjoyed watching the diversity of people that we saw walking, fishing, drinking, eating, and enjoying the summer evening.

Thursday of that week, my parents arrived from CT. We enjoyed a few drinks at this restaurant - my parents enjoyed the brand "Natural Light" beer (the waitress explained it so elegantly when sharing happy hour specials). Which I thought was hilarious since we used to drink "Natty Light" because it was the cheapest we could find back in the day ;)

Showing this picture below as the first picture of my parents trip to Virginia isn't really very fair. This was late Friday evening after we got home from a Birthday dinner for me and we were all pretty tired. I couldn't resist putting it in though, considering Tony's dad likes to make fun of my dad for being a lightweight and not ever being able to stay up late ;) sorry dad. xo

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ....... (hopefully they did get some much needed rest here)
Saturday we all headed out to Jamestown and enjoyed a walk around the historical sight. They are excavating during the week at this sight and have found a lot of artifacts recently which is interesting. After we walked around we went on a short bike ride, had lunch in Colonial Williamsburg and headed back to Norfolk.
We headed down to the strip at Virginia beach and had dinner at a restaurant off the boardwalk. We didn't have the camera out much on this visit, but we did enjoy taking pics in front of Poseidon.
We are settling into our new lives as Virginians. The state motto is "Virginia is for lovers" so we think we are in the right place for now. We are enjoying the rain, especially the big thunderstorms, it is a treat after living in the desert, and Tony has planted a vegetable garden in pots outside our door which are already growing. We also got a composter this week which we will set up next week.

Tony is in L.A. as I write this at a good friend's wedding, and I am headed to NY tomorrow to be in another good friend's wedding. He and I will meet in NY on Sunday and then fly back to VA on Monday. Hope all are well!

Kenai Remembered

For those of you who don't know, Kenai passed away this past weekend. He was Mom and Dad Stafford's beautiful Husky. He was only 8 years old. Here are some pictures from his birthday party this year.

We'll always remember how much he loved Frosty Paws and used to talk and dance for his snacks. He will definitely be missed... though we all have Kenai hair stuck to everything so I am sure we will be reminded of him for quite a while.

See ya in doggie heaven, Kenai :)

Love Cassie & Tony

July In Virginia, Cape Cod, and CT

From my last blog entry you might remember that Tony headed out for Florida for a few weeks to be a course director for Outward Bound Discovery. While he was there fighting the mosquitos and the humidity Mom and Dad Stafford and nephew Garrett drove down to pick up their trailer and have a nice visit. See our slumber party set up below :) With the new futon I procured on craig's list and their air mattress there was not much room to walk in the living room!
Kenai, the dog preferred our bed for sure. Right before they arrived I got a temp job at Eastern Virginia Medical School where I work for the Health Professions enrollment department. I process applications and assist the Director of Enrollment. It has provided a nice low maintenance employment experience which I do not take home with me at the end of the day which will be important especially when classes start for me in August. Anyway... back to the visit... Mom and Dad and Garrett went to Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown while I was working and when I got home each evening we would enjoy dinner on the town. 
Friday night we went over to Virginia Beach ate at a local seafood joint and then walked the boardwalk enjoying people watching, listening to live music, and looking out at the water. I was introduced to Rita's Iceys and Custards on the way home. (we forgot the cameras in the truck) Saturday we enjoyed the beach at the end of our street.
Garrett and Dad tossed the football around while Mom and I enjoyed reading our books and taking in the sun. We had an early evening and got up early on Sunday to drive our separate ways. I drove 11 hours up to CT with our truck and they drove back to Ohio with the trailer we had borrowed from them. We each arrived safely at our destinations.
While Tony and I were getting settled on the East Coast, Erik and Susie were enjoying the West Coast. Susie is back from China and had a family reunion in the Seattle area which Erik attended. The verdict is the family likes him. Way to go Erik. :) They too are enjoying early retirement and took an opportunity to see some sights on the Coast while they are applying to schools and jobs. Rumor has it they are looking into the Boston area.
They enjoyed the Oregon coast and the Redwood Forest. I cannot believe the size of those trees! I hope to get there at some point. Our mom always talks about how it was her favorite part of a cross country trip our parents did years ago.
I made a pit stop in CT and stayed with Jen and Matt and of course my little angel, Caitlyn. She showed me that at 5 months she can roll over completely! So proud... Monday morning  I drove up to the Cape where I met up with my parents on Winslow Landing.
I got to spend time with Carrie and Chip, and my Aunt Pat and Uncle Pete. There are two pictures below the next family picture that somehow got out of order. Erik and Susie arrived late Wednesday night and we spent time bike riding and showing Susie the Cape. Unfortunately, we found out on Tuesday that My dad's father, our Grandpa, was not doing well and that the nursing home didn't think it would be more than a week before he might pass away. Unfortunately he didn't last that long and passed away on Thursday afternoon. We drove back to CT on Friday to help with planning the funeral. The following is a group shot of the entire Benson clan at the luncheon after the funeral. Though it was a sad time, it was really good to see everyone and catch up.
Cape Cod...
Erik and Susie at the Beach in Cape Cod...
Here are more pics from the day of the funeral. Mom, Aunt Helen, Molly, and Ella Grace smiling for the camera.
Tony flew in from Florida on Saturday - two days ahead of schedule, and he and Susie finally got to meet. We all enjoyed food and drink in honor of Grandpa.
Though it was a rough day for Nana, she was very excited to meet her great-grandaughter, Ella.
Our friends Jen & Brian came to show their support and how could we forget Caitlyn!
We took this picture driving home to spend the last evening together at my parents house. Tony, Brian, Susie, me, and Erik. We all enjoyed relaxing by the pool and reflecting on Grandpa and the days events. 
Susie took this picture of us in the back yard of the house. At night we roasted marshmallows around a campfire. It was a wonderful evening. Tony and I left the next morning headed for Virginia and Susie and Erik headed for Boston. 

In Loving Memory of Irving Russell Benson. He was 89 years old. Born in 1920. He lived a good long life, was a good father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and son. He loved to tell jokes and make people laugh. The joke I remember him telling me a long time ago was "What do the Starship Enterprise and toilet paper have in common?" "They both float around uranus searching for cling-ons" I told that joke at the funeral and got some laughs - Grandpa would be proud.

We love you and miss you. xoxo