catch up

Isn't it interesting to take a moment and think about your life? There are so many things for me to be grateful for at this point in my life. I am so blessed to have been put in this situation with such amazing people around me. 

Last week I was fortunate in being sent to Minneapolis, Minnesota for a Charter School Conference. The only time I can actually recall being in the Mid-West prior to this was when I traveled to Ohio for a Thanksgiving trip with my dad and brother when I was in high school. If you have never been to Minnesota, let me just say Minneapolis is a must visit at least once in your life. Downtown Minneapolis is full of quaint Irish and English pubs, amazing highrises and beautiful old churches. We couldn't get enough of the amazing compliments between the old and the new in this city. We took some time on one of these days in Minneapolis to visit the Mall of America, unfortunately it was not nearly the amazing destination I anticipated. Yes it was big. Yes it had an amusement park in the middle. But the grandeur of this place was diminished when I realized that there are about 4 of each store inside the Mall. 

While I was at the Mall of America my friend Cassie and I quickly coordinated a spur of the moment trip to Wisconsin. Let me just say, I don't necessarily do "Spur of the Moment" well! This trip was to entail riding in the car for 5 hours with a 3 year old!

My drive to Neenah, Wisconsin

My new best friend, Evelyn

I cannot express how grateful I am to have friends like Cassie, when we saw each other it was as if we never parted. Over 12 months of not seeing one another and it felt like only a day had gone by! What an amazing feeling!
On Friday night we went to a wine bar in Neenah, Wisconsin called Uncorked. Maybe not the best idea, but we decided to begin our evening with a flight of sweet white wines... 

An intimidating flight of wine

Cassie with all of the vino

If the fun on that first night was any indication of the fun we were going to have for the duration of my trip, we had a good time instore for us! The fun times had included: floating the river and acquiring an incredible burn on the front of my body, going to some of the fun little bars, learning how to play bar dice and winning a free drink by beating the bartender, as well as listening to a great local band play!

All in all it was a fantastic trip and I am so glad I went on this adventure!

Miss ya Cass,