A quote

I may not understand a thing this man had to say about physics, but I'm diggin his perspective on other matters:

(Photo taken at last weekend's chalk art festival)

For my college graduation my uncle sent me his favorite biography of Einstein. In the inscription he wrote "hope you become the Einstein of your chosen field." At the time I thought it was a tender sentiment but now I just feel guilty for not doing anything to live up to it. Unless wasting time on the internet could be considered a "chosen field."

A Solstice Anniversary (Kinda)

Mike and I have never been big on commemorating the milestones of our relationship. Meaning there aren't really dates on the calendar that we point to and say "oh, on this day such-and-such happened." We pretty much celebrate our weddding anniversary and call it good. But on Sunday night I was looking through an old journal and noticed that the entry dated June 22, 2007 began with "Last night Mike and I went on our first real date..."

When I realized that the next day was June 21st I was all "hey Butch, tomorrow is the third anniversary of our first date!" and he was all "that is neat" so we decided to celebrate the occasion by trying to recreate that first date, which consisted of some night fishing and a campfire up Millcreek canyon.

Here we are on June 21, 2007:

(We unknowingly wore matching outfits, which we thought was funny so we took a picture.)

(My first time gutting a fish. Apparently I really enjoyed it.)

And here we are on June 21, 2010:

We couldn't go fishing this time around on account of this spastic animal:
So we settled for a hike instead:
Who would’ve thought that three years after our fishing expedition Mike and I would still be traipsing around Millcreek together? It’s only fitting that our first date occured on the first official day of summer, seeing as ours was a standard summer fling that just happened to turn into something so much better than either one of us expected. Life is amazing. Especially when you get to spend it in the beautiful mountains with your favorite person.

More

Since writing my previous post, I've come across some more World Cup advertising treasures. Most of you probably don't care, but we've already established that I happen to love this kind of crap so I'm posting it anyway.

The Wavin' Flag video makes me want an African squad to win the tournament so badly. I even get a little choked up when watching it (seriously, what is wrong with me?) The coca-cola one is pure happiness, and the Nike commercial would be ten times more awesome if Kobe Bryant weren't in it. Ew.

Enjoy:

Waka Waka

Like most Americans, I’m not a huge professional soccer enthusiast. Besides a few REAL games and the summer I was in Europe during the Euro Cup, I've never really watched it at all. I’d say I have the same beef with the sport as most redneck males: the lack of scoring, arbitrary time keeping, games ending in a tie, etc. Plus my soccer playing days ended about the time parents stopped handing out Squeezits at the end of a game so I really don’t know enough about soccer strategy to recognize the skill involved.

Given this information you would probably assume that I have no interest in this summer’s World Cup. And you would be right until you take into account that I’m a sports marketer’s dream. As established in previous posts (here and here), I’m not in it for the sport itself so much as the spectacle and backstory involved. If you can get me sentimental enough before the actual sporting event, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be glued to the TV for the whole thing. I think FIFA had people like me in mind when they produced this little gem:



Cheesy, quasi-inspiring lyrics? Check.
Close-ups of the athletes' various emotional faces? Check.
Footage of the sport's highlights? Check.
Clips of happy, cheering fans? Check.

This video ups the ante by including the happy dancing that makes the World Cup look like one big street carnival. Plus the song itself is so dang catchy. I dare you not to feel some degree of happiness while listening to it.

So all right World Cup, I’m in. You better be awesome.

P.S.- for a funny commentary on sometime soccer fans like myself, read this.

Extreme DIY

For most people, springtime is synonymous with blooming tulips, warmer temperatures, and hayfever. I’m beginning to realize that, at the Cassity house, spring awakens a desire to push the limits of our time, money, and sanity. Last spring we were stripping wallpaper, tearing down walls, installing appliances, and performing the various other miscellaneous tasks involved in transforming an old smelly house into something fit for living creatures. All this while I was working full-time and Mike was smack-dab in the middle of studying for finals.*

This year, spring at our place looked a little like this:

Granted, this year’s project of landscaping our backyard was not quite as big of an undertaking as THE REMODEL, but much of it felt the same: Home Depot appearing on our bank statement a bajillion times, Butch impressing me time and time again with his mad skills, and awesome friends and family showing up to help us carry out our hairbrained schemes.
Here’s the project in a nutshell:

Before (I do miss all the trees, but they had to be ripped out. We will be planting more soon):

After (new retaining wall, sprinkler system, and grass- ignore the temporary fence in the first photo):


I never thought something as simple as a functioning sprinkler system and grass could make me so happy, but after we laid the sod I had to strongly resist the urge to kiss it. Goodbye, mud pit/jungle of a yard, hello badminton parties, backyard picnics, and our very own garden.

Next up: New siding for the outside of the house. Gotta love fixer-uppers...

*I keep meaning to do a “before and after” post about our home renovation since I love looking at crap like that on blogs, but do any of you even care anymore?