More Whips

So as promised, more amazing pictures of the Whip. Yeah, it was that good that it deserves more than one post. Try one, and you will understand.

Ok, this picture is hilarious. We went back another day before we left for another whip, and my mom was determined to get a picture of Adam and I holding one. Well, apparently she didn't realize that her finger was in front of the camera....and she tried this 3 times! This is the only one where I am even partially visible... I think it is hilarious.

Whips

Springfield weekend!  So much food already and we've only been here one day.  I think my mom is trying to make us fat...  but it's sooo good! Ha.

Anywho, we are doing Kelsey's senior pictures today (I still can't believe my little sister is a senior!) which should be fun.  And hopefully we will stop and get another of these amazing little gems called a "pineapple whip". 

Yes, the whip.  Apparently they are these little hidden gems of Springfield that have been featured on the Food Channel and everything.  Is it ice cream?  Is is sherbert? Apparently neither, though they won't tell you just what they are.  Well, whatever they are, they are amazing.  And now that I have had my first, I want more.  And more.  Mmmm whip.

I attached a picture of the stand, it doesn't look like much does it?  But I guarentee you that enclosed in that small trailer stand is a world of goodness. 

One drawback to this app on the Droid is the lack of ability to attach more than one photo to a post.  I have many delicious pictures of us enjoying the whips, but unfortunately can only inclue one.  Ah well, we can't have everything I suppose!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Today was my grandpa's birthday, so my mom made him a cake and we headed over to give him his presents. Skye made him a card, but it basically just had 80s all over it...I don't think he was quite as amused to see his age all over it as she was. Ha!

Of course there were monkeys! There are always monkeys involved...the reason we still have yet to understand...

For some reason I REALLY enjoy the looks on their faces in this picture. It makes me laugh!

Moving on Up!

I am so incredibly excited! 

So earlier this week I was in Office Depot to get printer ink. I decided to take a slight detour and stop by their furniture department.  I had seen a flyer when I walked in showing they were having some sales on desks, so I decided to take a look. Granted, I always just assumed when we bought a desk it would be from a place like Nebraska Furniture Mart, since that was the only place I assumed sold nice desks.

Imagine my surprise when I wandered into this little gem?  (Literally, I walked right into it while gazing about) 

Imagine my even greater surprise when I saw the price- $399!  "Hm..."  The wheels started turning, and my desperate desire to have an actual desk for our office left me wanting. 

But wait, it gets better.

Because of Memorial Day, apparently the store was having some special deals (remember the flyer?) and this desk was included. Sale price? $299. 

AND free delivery?!  I was getting more and more tempted....

I snapped a quick picture and sent it to Adam and headed home to look up any on line reviews.  After all, I didn't want us to end up with something crappy regardless of the price.

So I'm on trusty Google looking up reviews while I get a text from Adam saying we should get it. Reviews were perfect. I'm thinking this needs to happen.

As if to confirm this, the gods decided I needed to have my computer accidentally redirect to Office Depots home page, and there in shiny lights- a $45 off a $300 purchase.

Yeah, I know, right?!

We bought it last night.  It took a very long time and was very frustrating (apparently the manager doesn't know how to do simple math) but our brand new pretty will be delivered Tuesday.  Adam now has many hours of building ahead of him, but from the reviews I've read- it's worth it!

New Phone!

Thanks to Verizon's nice "Buy One Get One Free" sale, Adam and i are now proud new owners of two very pretty and very shiny Droids!

I've been having quite a fun time playing around and learning the frustrating world of the touch screen, as well as exploring the thousands of apps the Android market has.  Well, one thing that i always found frustrating about the Blackberry (among other things) was the lack of ability to update my blog.  I searched for an app to be able to do this, but could never find one.  So i was pleasantly surprised when I searched and came across not just one, but many options to allow me to post my all important thoughts instantaneously.  To say the least, i was quite the happy camper as my newfound app was downloading.

How does it work?  Well I'll give you a hint- I'm not at home right now!

I'm becoming quite the happy Cassie.

Weston

Last fall Adam and I shot a wedding in a little town near us called Weston. We heard about the greatness of this town from that couple and a few others, and ever since then I've wanted to spend a day there. Since this is our last wedding-free weekend until July, we decided now was as good a time as ever, and went to explore this quaint little city.

I had heard that a must-do was the Pirtle Winery...apparently this little winery built in the basement of an old church is something special, so that was our first stop. We were greeted by a free tasting of every one of their wines...yum!

They also had this super cute little garden area where people could drink their wine and share a picnic basket, and well, we were all into the picnic basket idea! Warm sourdough bread, summer sausage and 2 kinds of cheese...yummy! Although we skipped the wine part (we did buy a bottle of the yummy bubbly blueberry wine to take home, though!) the basket was pretty darn good.

It was ridiculously hot yesterday, especially for May. Think 90's, but super humid and muggy. But we managed to wander around to a few of the stores and antique shops here and there . I found the cutest coin purse- made out of a sock!!

We really wanted to eat at the popular Irish Pub for dinner (that's where we had done the wedding last fall) but we weren't hungry yet, so we headed back into town and stopped at Old Navy...yesterday was the annual $1 flip flop sale. Even though it was only afternoon, our store was completely sold out. Bummer.

After a couple hours we headed back to Weston for dinner, and they had the best burgers- ever! It was so huge...I didn't eat near all of mine but was so ridiculously stuffed it was insane. And their Cheddar & Ale soup was also amazing. I'd totally go back!

Waiting for food! I didn't carry my camera in here and it was INSANELY dark...and well, my phone doesn't take the best pics to begin with...



YUMMY Cheddar & Ale Soup!



Best. Burger. Ever!

It was fun, and I think we are going to make a point to go back sometime and stay in one of their cute little bed and breakfasts that the town is known for. That, and there were some shops I didn't get to go into- so that alone is worth another trip back!

Craigslist is Pretty Amazing

I am always amazed at some of the things that people choose to throw and give away. I have this habit of checking the "free" section on Craigslist a couple of times a day. Most of the time it's junk, but every once in a while you find something that you just have to think "wow, why would they just GIVE that away?". Most of the time when I see one of these amazing steals, it's for something big- like the one time a big game room downtown was getting new floor models in so they put their big arcade cabinets and jukeboxes out near their docks and said "Hey come and get em". Do you know how BADLY I've always wanted a jukebox?! Working or not (and these were WORKING none-the-less!) I've always wanted one, just because I think they look pretty amazing and have always thought one in a basement would just be amazing. Problem? We don't have a truck, and I doubt a full sized jukebox is going to fit into the back of either of our cars any time soon. We also dont know anyone here, so we can't simply call up a friend and have them come help...so when I see these amazing free deals, I have to either justify renting the truck at Home Depot and shelling out the gas, or let the amazing deal slip away. Most of the time letting it slip away tends to win.

But then every once in a while you find a smaller item for free, only down here, it's a cut throat process...unless you see the free posting IMMEDIATELY after it has been placed, you aren't going to get it. I think some people must just sit on Craigslist hitting refresh constantly throughout the day, since I never seem to get anything even if it was posted a mere hour beforehand.

Today though, I got lucky. Maybe it was just lucky timing, but I was doing my daily checking of the listing, and I happened to click on a post. It was junk, but when I went back to the main page, the listings had updated, and a new post popped up offering designer pillows. I thought "Hey, pillows are expensive, let's see" and came across these gorgeous designer pillows....3 of them matching, and one that was different but still went with the set. I sent the email, expecting to get beat out. About 15 mintues later, I get an email from the lady saying I was the first to inquire and if I could get there by tonight, they were mine! I was ecstatic! I wrote back saying of course, and I got another back asking if I wanted the candles as well, since apparently she'd gotten tons of emails from people wanting both the pillows and the candles. Candles? I hadn't seen any candles? So I hopped back on CL and apparently while I was emailing the posting in such excitement, she had posted another listing for a bunch of free candles. In the picture I thought they looked alright, but Adam and I go through candles like it's nobody's business, so I said "Sure" and later I told a very confused Adam we were going out to get these and we were off!

What we ended up with were 3 super beautiful decorative pillows, and 4 brand new, huge, great smelling decorative candles! So excited. And to top it off, while I was picking them up, the lady asked if I wanted these decorative flower things...said she got them at Crate and Barrel and just didnt need them anymore, but they go with the colors of the pillows so she thought she'd see if I wanted them. Um, yes! They would look great in a tall vase in our main room. So I totally scored tonight, and even after Adam saw them he said "Wait, you got these for FREE?!" and was pleasantly surprised.

Ignore the ridiculously messy table. I hadn't cleaned up from work yet... And the blurry cell phone pic doesn't really do it justice, but you get the idea! There were 3 of these!



The brand new, HUGE candles, complete with pillars! The white one is from Bath & Body Works and smells soooo good!



Pretty branch flower thing. It's HUGE! And there are 2 of them. They'll look great in a tall vase.

Yay for Craigslist!

No More Shows

Note to self, again. Staying up to watch finales when you have to work ridiculously early in the morning is PROBABLY not a good idea.

Like I said, I took the bait again last night and stayed up. Recap, Bones sucked, Grey's rocked it.

I was totally disappointed in Bones. That's my absolute favorite show out of the handful Adam and I follow and the second half of this season has been really, well, depressing. Every episode is just so...sad. I had expected at least a little bit of...well, SOMETHING out of the finale...but what did we get? Just more sadness. It was frustrating and just left you with this sad feeling...almost like a SERIES finale instead of a season. Fox did announce they are bringing the show back in the fall, so no worries about it unintentionally being the series finale, and of course I'll watch it when it comes back, but that show is frustrating me to no end!

As for Grey's last night...my GOD. That was probably the best finale I've seen, ever. And I mean ever. Out of any show I've ever watched or followed. It was a 2 hour show, and Adam and I were on the edge of our seats every minute of it. It was intense. I've gotten into shows before, but never actually sat on the edge of my seat gripping Adam's arm before. Yeah, that intense. And with the way my Facebook friends' status were lighting up throughout the show means I was not the only one feeling that way. Good thing, no big cliffhanger. Just a GOOD 2 hour episode with really, really great performances by the actors. Makes me excited for fall, but left me feeling like this episode was just so good that it's ok to wait. Only bad part of the show? I couldn't sleep for the life of me when it was over, and that made for a nasty day at work.

Now all of our shows are over and that makes me sad. Even though (with the exception of the finales) we never watched the shows on time, it was still something I looked forward to. Adam and I always had that hour or so to watch them together and it was nice. None of the summer shows look interesting, so looks like we'll just have to count down to September!

I feel like the past week has turned this blog into one of those TV show review sites...ha. Totally not intentional. To be honest, aside from those 4 shows that we watch together, I never watch TV. So I'm not usually all into it like this. I guess that's the point of sweeps month though, eh? To get people involved and talking?

Lacking the Motivation...

I'm totally lacking the motivation to be productive in, well, anything lately. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm blaming the rain. It's rained EVERY DAY pretty much all month. We had one sunny day this week, and now it's back to the rain. It just kind of makes me want to stay inside. In bed. And do nothing.

Tonight is the season finale of my favorite show, Bones. Remember how I said I hated May? Well, I'll probably hate it alot more after tonight. This show is probably the most frustrating show I've ever watched (all you Bones fans out there, you know why) and I have a feeling that this dang finale isn't going to solve or accomplish anything except to give me more frustrating. Ugh. The writer/creator of the show said that it will create a "pronounced reaction among the fans". Yeah, that can never be good. It's also finale night for Grey's Anatomy, and I'm a big fan, but not as attached to the characters as I am on Bones, so while I know there's going to be a massive cliff hanger in that show, I'll live.

I don't have any related pics to post today, but I snapped this on my phone earlier today and thought it was ridiculously cute. I'm a total slacker when it comes to unpacking after a trip...in fact I tend to just unpack by taking things out when I need them, and then on laundry day...ha. Well, I had my bag from Chicago still laying on the couch, and I turned around earlier and found Annabelle sitting inside. Apparently next time she wants to make sure I don't forget her...

Oh Miley...

I think we get it...you aren't on Disney anymore...

Yum

While in Chicago Sara and I needed a place to eat one night and ended up at the Dunkin Donuts near our hotel. We found out that they have the most AMAZING hash browns, and since the trip I have been massively craving these little round pieces of joy. So after work today I totally drove all the way to the Dunkin Donuts just to get these. They were just as amazing as I remembered...

Yum yum yum. I miss Chicago!

New Layout + Why I Hate May

I decided to make a few changes in the blog world layout-wise. I just wasn't feeling the other one anymore, and I really wanted to make it more photo-friendly. I'll stick with this for now, though I'm not totally sure I am set on the yellow...it's a bit more cheery than I'm used to! Ha. Perhaps it was because today was the first sunny and non-rainy day all month?

Anywho, as a side note, I hate the month of May. It rains a lot, the yardwork starts needing to happen, and my biggest peeve- it's the season finale month for every show on the planet. Well, the ones I watch anyway. It always leaves me annoyed and then I'm without my shows for the next few months.

Adam and I have become big fans of the show Castle during it's past two seasons and the finale was last night. I took the bait and stayed up late to watch it, to be honest I dont think that I have stayed up to watch this show at the time it was on since it came out, but I REALLY wanted to see the finale, and what ended up happening? I was annoyed and frustrated in the end and couldn't fall asleep. So work today was rough, and my point of hating the month of May was once again reiterated.

Just made the hubby dinner and now we are off to watch the finale of Desperate Housewives that was on this past Sunday...yes we are a bit behind. Eh. I hate May.

BRGR

Sunday Adam and I were trying our best to figure out a place to eat that was cheap, and we remembered all of our friends RAVING about this place called "Cheddars" that they ate at down in Springfield at the wedding. Well, we found out we have a Cheddars here, so we decided to make the drive out there to see if it really did live up to the hype. Well, on the way we had to swing by the bank, and at the particular branch we stopped at, there was a strip mall nearby and we saw this intriguing place called "BRGR" and decided to stop over and see the menu. It was filled with different burgers, and we both thought that sounded good, so we detoured from Cheddars and ate at this unique little shop instead.

It was very different inside, metal chairs with a super rustic charm. We ordered a couple of waters, and they bring us back this bottle, it made me laugh!

All in all the place was pretty good. I liked my burger and Adam liked his, though I kind of wish we would have done Cheddars since we drove all the way out there! But it was definitely good. Yum.

Chicago!

So earlier this month Sara and I took a weekend trip up to Chicago. She had never been there and I have only been once, but it was a few years ago and we went up and back in two days and spent the time looking for an apartment for our roommates at the time, so we didnt get to see the city. So I was really excited, and the city was so much fun! We were total tourists though, even paying for one of their "hop on, hop off" tour bus deals. But we got to see pretty much everything we were wanting to, and had alot of fun seeing all of the different things. We figure next time we can spend time doing more "Chicago" things, as opposed to the touristy attractions. Haha. Anywho, we stayed at a super fancy hotel right near the water and had fun seeing the different museums and shopping down on the Mag Mile. Now that I know more of what is there, I am excited to get to go back!

It was super cloudy and windy our first day, but the Buckingham Fountain was still super spectacular.



It cleared up a couple days later and the water was so pretty!






We had wayy to much fun taking pictures at the Bean!


















2nd largest department store in the WORLD!! This was one GIGANTIC Macy's!!

I can't wait until we get to take our next trip in a few months!!!

Happy Hour!

So Adam had a conference deal through work where he had to go to some fancy pants meeting thing at a hotel downtown, which meant he got off a couple hours earlier than normal and we were FINALLY able to take advantage of one of the restaurant's happy hours here in town. We went to La Bodega, a little mexican joint down near midtown, and it was delicious (and cheap!). It was so much fun to be able to go out together during the week and get some cheap yummy food at a place we probably wouldnt normally get to go. It sucks that there isnt a happy hour on the weekends!

Yum! And we got Sangria! Mmmmm!

We also went and saw Iron Man 2 at a sneak preview- another thing I LOVE about living in the big city is that we actually have screenings for all of the big movies coming out. And we usually get passes for free to go see these movies, so we get to go see the big hits for free and before they even come out. Love it! With the prices of movies so dang high now, we never get to actually GO see a movie, so this way we get to go and we are seeing a big movie. Sure, we have to stand in line for an hour or so, but it's totally worth it! Iron Man, however, not on my list of top faves. Adam loved it, but I just wasnt a fan...could be because I didnt see the first one? Who knows....

Goodness, it's May?

Wow, I can't believe the last time that I updated this sucker was back in March. I feel like these last few months have just been this big huge blur...I'm in awe that it is already May. Actually, it's over halfway through the month now so technically it's almost June. CRAZY!

Anyways, not too much happened in April. We've been decorating our place and working on things for the business, combined with everything else I feel like we have little time to do much else. We've been driving back and forth to Omaha all the time for work and that's starting to take it's toll...it's not a bad drive or anything, but when you do it EVERY weekend, it starts to get a bit boring and long.

This is what I see on our drives. Adam sleeping, Annabelle on his lap. I'm left to drive allll alone!

Tina graduated from college a couple weeks back and I went up to watch. I'm so incredibly proud of her! She always has been my best friend, and I totally had tears when she walked in all dressed in her cap and gown. She's going to do so many great things in her life, and I can't wait to be a part of them!

Tina and the hubby! I still can't believe it's been almost 2 years since she got married!

Billy, Tina and I at Tina's graduation party! I can't believe we are all college grads!

More later!