New Deck!

This weekend I finally completed one of the projects we have been talking about for a long time, but haven't done yet. Diana was away Friday and Saturday in Michigan with Marquette for a crew race. So Cassie and I spent the day decking over the ugly concrete patio in the back yard.

The process started by fastening 2 x 2 strips to the concrete. I used a hammer drill, concrete screws, and construction adhesive. Once that was complete I headed to home depot to get all of the decking lumber. I had to rent one of their trucks for an hour to get it all home. Fortunately the patio is 12 ft long so I was able to get 12 ft long deck boards and didn't have to do any cutting. I fastened down the boards, boxed it in, and it was done. Cassie enjoyed sitting outside in the yard all day watching, and Diana was pretty surprised when she got home Saturday night. On Sunday we picked out a stain and finished the deck together. It looks a lot better than the ugly concrete. Check out the pictures for the transformation!

Step 1: fasten "joists" to the concrete

Step 2: build deck

Step 3: stain deck.

NRT Office Moving Downtown!

A short and exciting update: my office is moving from the town of Pewaukee (20 minutes west of Milwaukee) to a new location downtown. The new location will cut my commute distance in half and will allow for biking to work. Everyone is pretty excited. Read the news release here or check out the new building here!

Great Smoky Mountains

Last week Diana spent her time down in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to coach the Marquette rowing team during their spring training trip. The weather wasn't particularly warm... but the wide river with miles of row-able water was a nice change from the Milwaukee River. Now they are back and ready to start the racing season in April.

I drove down to TN with Cassie towards the end of the training trip to meet up with Diana and the other coaches to do some camping and hiking in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park when they were done coaching from Friday to Sunday. The park was not too crowded since it was March and we were able to get a great campsite along a stream. On Saturday we did an 11-mile round trip hike up Mount LeConte to a peak elevation of about 6,600 ft. The last mile of the hike to the summit was still snow covered, but the temperatures warmed into the 60s.

Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed on the trails at national parks so Cassie had to wait in the car while we hiked. She did have a lot of fun being outside and exploring the campsite. She even took a dip in the 40 degree stream... only once though since she quickly realized it was COLD!

Sunday we packed up early and drove back up to Wisconsin, where winter is still holding on. Here we are on the last day with spring starting tomorrow and we are expecting wind chills below zero. Spring will come eventually. Enjoy the pictures from the trip!

Rowing in Oak Ridge

Our campsite by the stream

Diana and Cassie relaxing by the stream. Great white noise for sleeping!

Keeping the beverages cold in natures cooler

The trail up Mount LeConte

5 miles up, 5 miles down, plus a little extra = 11 mile hike!

Diana ready to hike! She loves that new rain coat!

Snowy hike up top

Great views of the rolling mountains

We made it to the top! Check another one off the list.

February 2013!

Well it looks like I am keeping up with posting once a month, which will have to do. We finally have been getting some snow. Unfortunately, we have been getting heavy rain as well. It's been another weird winter of weather.

With the snow, we have been able to use the snow blower we got this year. Our driveway is pretty long, and we learned last year that shoveling it takes a looong time. Even Diana took a turn clearing the driveway and sidewalk. She got a nice down winter coat, so now she doesn't complain (too much) staying out in the cold.

Diana with the Snow Blower!

 Cassie has been loving the snow too. Unfortunately for her, she is a bit of a wimpy pup and gets cold paws after only a few minutes outside. Leave it to Diana to find some dog sled booties online and soon enough Cassie was romping through the snow with her boots on. Now she will stay out in the snow for ever.

Cassie wearing her boots!

 With the snow we have been trying to get out cross country skiing as much as possible. I made a ski tuning bench in the basement (too cheap to buy one) and we will hopefully get out a few more times before spring hits.

Home Made Ski Waxing Bench

We like to go out to Lapham Peak to ski since they make snow, groom the trails, and have lights for night skiing. They also have nice hiking trails we can take Cassie out on. Her nose goes crazy and it tires her out pretty good. Then she'll just sleep in the car while we ski.

Cassie and Diana enjoying the hike!

Cassie also likes letting out her hunting side and trying to get whatever is living under the snow (rabbit, field mouse, who knows). She drives her face into the snow and pushes through while digging around.

Cassie doing some hunting!

This past weekend was the annual Ravenswood Roundabout... our exclusive neighborhood social gathering. We knew what to expect this year and had a good time with the neighbors.  We took another big step this year when we were given official Ravenswood Roudabout drink cups. This neighborhood continues to amaze us.

Official Cup!

That's all for now!

January 2013

January is almost over, so it's time for another blog post. We have been busy in the month after the holidays. There hasn't been much snow again this winter, but we have been out cross country skiing a few times this year. Lapham Peak is only 30 minutes away and has a loop that is lit at night and has snow making. We are getting the hang of cross country... it's more of a cardio workout than downhill, and slower. But any skiing is better than no skiing.

Diana cross country skiing

For a brewing update we have two batches brewing in the kitchen right now (an IPA and a Kolsch). The goal for this year is to beat last year's production. There may be even some wine making in there so stay tuned.

Cassie is loving all of her new toys from Christmas. By far her favorite is her shark tooth... shark fin? sail boat? Well, whatever it is supposed to be, she carries around like it's a cigar hanging out of her mouth. Her favorite game is for me to chase her around the table. She's nuts.

Cassie with her new toy waiting to be chased

And when she is all tired out, she cuddles up on her bed with her bear. I think we have a lot of these pictures... we might be crazy dog people.

Pooped pup... and Bear

This past week Diana celebrated her birthday! We went to a nice dinner and brought home dessert. Then Diana went out and bought new bake ware!!! she was pretty excited, and I get to eat the baked goods, so I was pretty excited too.

Happy Birthday Diana

That's all for now. See you all in February.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We hope everyone has had a great holiday season. We just returned from a week-long trip back to NY for Christmas. The drive out and back were long since we hit snow both ways, but it was great to relax with family and see everyone. Many people we haven't seen since our wedding over two years ago. Enjoy some pictures from the trip:

Our bounty from Wisconsin ready to bring to NY. Cheese, Sausage, and Home Brew

Cassie during the road trip. She loves her back seat.

The family down at the Grandparent's house on Christmas day

A day of snowshoeing with Rob, Emma, and Mom

Mom crossing the stream with some help from Rob

Diana taking a big step into the stream

Staying with Phil in Rochester. All the dogs wanted to snuggle with Diana

Happy December

Almost a month since the last update. We had a nice Thanksgiving hosting for the Mitsches (Mom, Dad, David, and Michael). Diana planned out and cooked a great meal and we enjoyed the warm weather and good company. We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving as well.

Diana and her little helper working on Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving Dinner

Not much else to report except that we are getting things ready to drive to NY in a few weeks for Christmas. It will be our first time back to NY in over a year so we are pretty excited. Since we will be away for Christmas we decided not to get a large tree; Instead we found a nice 3-ft  table tree that fits perfectly in our front window.

Our petite Christmas tree