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