What's your favorite color?

Don't ask Ashley this question on Sundays. Any other day, fire away. But on Sunday? Stay away from anything having to do with Blue. Why, you ask? Well, there is a phenomenon I hadn't heard of until recently (read: marriage). It's called "The Sunday Night Blues". Da daaaaa da dun (sing with me). Da daaaaaa da dun.

It's inevitable. Every Sunday night (unless Monday is a holiday, then it's the Monday night blues) about 6 o clock the blues come upon us. It starts with a rather frank statement, something like "Babe, I think I've got the Sunday night blues". I say, "NO YOU DON'T, IT'S ALL MENTAL! FEND IT OFF!!!" Then she says, definitively, "Yep, they're here". Dang.

Most Sundays I can't do anything to stop the blues. Sometimes you just have to talk about Monday. How bad it's going to be, and long with week is, and far off the next weekend is. But not me! I'm an optimist! I'm going to work out more this week! And we are going to have some great dinners and have the best week ever and hey, the weekend is right around the corner! But not those afflicted with the Sunday Night Blues. It is a very bleak outcome. However, I figured out a few solutions. Here are my tips for curing the Sunday night blues:

1) Beef Stew. It was cold, rainy, and sucky. Stew helps all of that.
2) Yahtzee. What else do you do while you wait for stew?
3) Wine. Well that helps a lot of things, and the blues is one of them.
4) Conversation. Take her mind off the blues!!!!
5) Movie. In our case, it was reruns of "Sister Wives". Disturbing, but it took her mind away from the blues and into happiness.

Once I heard of these blues, I was convinced that they were indigenous to Ashley. Nope. My friend Kevin has them too. Every Sunday. I tested my theory last night, and sure enough - he had the blues. So does Ashley's Dad. He had the Sunday night blues even when he was here and he had one day left to visit!

They are unstoppable my friends. Don't give in. Don't let the Sunday night blues take you over. Stay positive! Have a glass of wine - it's healthy, in more ways than one! Eat a big fat meal and watch trashy TV! It will make Monday morning much easier.

Until next time, enjoy MY favorite colors - GREEN AND YELLOW!!!!

Ducks, Doc and the Drive

What time is it? Update time! Not that anyone cares, but here are some recent thoughts, experiences and reactions to the world around me (and the world not so close).

Did you hear about what happened to the Ducks? They scored another touchdown! Ba doom, ching! Man the Oregon Ducks look good this year. Granted, the 1st half of the Tennessee game was crapola, but the 3 halves they have played thus far have been a) unstoppable. b) shutouts and c) exciting! I love watching the Ducks when they are in rhythm. It is one of Oregon's best qualities!! I'll be attending this weeks slaughtering, if you are interested.

How about some recent "Service Drive" experiences at work? Here are some typical conversations I have each day. In person, mind you.
- Hi there, how can I help you?
- MY BUMPER IS FALLING OFF YOU NEED TO FIX IT FOR FREE!!!!
- Well, I can certainly do my best. I noticed that there is some scrapes under the front bumper. Did you maybe run over a few curbs?
- (silence). Yeah maybe one or two. How much will it be to fix it?

- Hi there, what can I do for you today?
- MY CAR KEEPS DYING! ITS BRAND NEW! THIS SHOULD ALL BE PAID FOR UNDER WARRANTY!!!
- Ma'am (or sir), did you happen to notice that all interior lights are currenty on?
- YES
- Were they on this morning?
- NO THE CAR WAS DEAD!!!
- Did you leave them on possibly all nigth?
- (silence) How much for any oil change?

And lastly this interatction...
- MY WINDOWS WON'T STAY UP!! THEY ROLL DOWN ON THEIR OWN!!
- Ok ma'am, let me try to understand. You are telling me that the windows just fall down?
- YES! THE REAR ONES!!!
- Ok. When does this happen?
- Normally at the end of a day at my house. You need to fix this.
- I will certainly do my best. Tell me a little more about this condition. Do you have kids?
- Why?
- I am just wondering.
- Yes I do. They are 4 and 6.
- Do they sit in the rear ever?
- (silence).........yes.
- Is it possible that they are rolling the windows down and you might not notice?

Just another typical day on the service drive!

And now on to a more serious topic - Doc. For those of you who either live in North Carolina or have read my blog, you have met Doc Hendley with Wine to Water. He is an incredible man on an incredible mission. Currently, Doc is in Cambodia in the Sway Reign region digging wells so that these people have fresh water for the first time in their lives. 80% of the deaths in this region are directly related to poor water quality. Unbeleivable stat! So Doc is doing something about. Please check out their new blog, it is awesome. Video updates, great photots...go to http://winetowater.org/blog

Well that's all for now friends. I have uploaded some pictures from our recent adventures here in Oregon! Until next time, roll up your windows!

The Casebeers Went Camping!

Or shall I say, the Casebeers did nothing while our friends treated us to a great weekend in the wilderness. I have no idea how to set up a tent, no clue how to cook food outdoors, and did not know that I couldn't burn my Styrofoam cup in our bonfire. But you know what? Everything worked out OK.

Our good friends Molly and Will - freshly married 4 weeks ago!! - took us camping on the beautiful and scenic Oregon coast this weekend. We loved it! Will and I arrived a little late due to work and school duties, but when we got there Molly and Ashley has already set up the tent, had a fire going and had the wine open! Needless to say I was impressed from the get go. What was even better was the fresh pot of coffee on Saturday morning. I was expecting to have to drive 10 miles in to Starbucks (I'm lame) but nooooo. Coffee was fresh, hot and tasted as good as anything else! Ashley and I were in charge of breakfast, which consisted of eggs, bacon, toast and lots of coffee. We were aided by the help of a great grill and competent friends.

After breakfast we wandered down the coast to check out some local historical landmarks. Devil's Punchbowl, Cape Perpetura, and the 500+ year old tree hidden miles back in the forest, tide pools, and the like. It was a beautiful day to be hiking around! The afternoon was filled with Bocci Ball, beers, more fire and no showering by Will and myself. The girls opted for the public restroom. I opted for poor hygiene. As it turns out, this was not much appreciated by Ashley come Sunday afternoon. Annnnnyywaaay.

Another revelation about camping is that you don't have to eat hot dogs over a campfire for dinner. You can eat grilled salmon, asparagus, warm bread and wood fired corn on the cob if you camp with the Marra's! I was shocked at how great dinner was. But then again, I'm not that smart and my expectations were out of whack. We had a great meal, great games by the fire and a great time together!

Sunday morning - more coffee, eggs, and sausage. More goodness. We had a few more sights to see and the road to hit. But leaving the camp site made me want to do more camping! I love sleeping in nature. I love fires. I love the fact that all you can do is play games and have great conversation. And eat all of Molly and Will's good food.

A camper tip, from the pro Alex: Don't sit too close to the fire or else an ember may fly out and hit you directly in the eyeball, causing a scab. True story.

Other thoughts from the camping trip:
- sleeping under the stars and by the ocean is better than not.
- sleeping not in a bed sort of sucks
- showering is overrated
- brushing your teeth is not
- TV, phones, music, electronics, etc....also overrated
- Fires will forever be fascinating
- I still hate sand, but love the beach. Go figure!

Well friends, enough rambling. But I did want to recommend to go camping at least once a year. I know we will. Until next time, take a shower for goodness sakes!!

Perspectives

Oftentimes I am extremely guilty of being content. And being content with being content. I am also guilty of not being grateful for what I have and appreciating the little things. I recently listened to a Dave Barnes song and it just made me think of "the big picture" - aka perspective. Here are the lyrics:

"We will have love, we will have pain. We will have days and days and days that feel the same.
We will have fear, we will have joy. There may be little girls and little boys.

We will have friends, we will have peace. There will lights and nights and music til you sleep.
We will be strong, though we were still weak. We will live thru so much more than we could take.

Amen, Amen. With the dawn the love began again.
Amen, Amen. What is done and yet to come, Amen

We will have hope, we will have doubt. There will be memories that we could never live without.
We will have tears, but there will be grace. There will be prayers that we never thought we'd pray.

Amen, Amen. With the dawn the love began again.
Amen, Amen. What is done and yet to come, Amen.

In the sun or the storm, the flood or the flame.
When everything's wrong and I'm the one to blame.
When heartache grow old, I swear I'll say Amen.

Amen. With the dawn the love began again.
Amen, Amen. What is done and yet to come, Amen."

I like this song. In fact, I love this song and you should immediately to go iTunes and download it! But I really feel like it says a lot about perspective. Interpret it how you may as well, but I think it has a lot to say.

More thoughts on perspective...

- The sound of grocery carts rolling down the street in our neighborhood.....perspective
- The fact that troops have been in the Middle East for 10 year....perspective
- I still have 4 grandparents....perspective
- Marriage is all around us, as is new life.....perspective
- I talked with 1 of only 200 living survivors of Pearl Harbor yesterday....perspective
- I have a wife who loves me.....perspective

I don't even know if any of that makes sense to anyone but me. But I guess that is what blogs are for. To put things in perspective. Until next time, experience something. Reflect on it. And realize the perspective of it all!

Recent memoirs

Some highlights and lowlights as of late

From the last month:
- Highlight(s): Going to Cour de Alene with Toyota and "The Lion King" with Ashley
- Lowlight: leaving Toyota Service Department and starting all over at Chevy Service Department

From the last 3 weeks:
- Highlight: 4th of July in Neskowin. Duh
- Lowlight: Working on the 5th of July when everyone else had it off

From the last 2 weeks:
- Highlight: Running 16 miles on a Saturday morning with my Mom and Uncle
- Lowlight: Running 16 miles on a Saturday morning with my Mom and Uncle

From the last week:
- Highlight: A weekend in Cannon Beach with great friends drinking amazing wine
- Lowlight: Drinking too much amazing wine

From this week:
- Highlight: Getting to hit golf balls at lunch
- Lowlight: Realizing that I need to hit more golf balls to stay good at golf

From today:
- Highlight: Dinner tonight with Ashley (Spicy Mustard and Brown Sugar Salmon with Cilantro/Ginger Rice.....and wine)
- Lowlight: Pulling a 75 year olds dentures out from in between his seat in his Cadillac.

Looking forward to next week:
- Highlights: Heading to Laguna Beach for a wedding!
- Lowlights: Work next Monday

Looking forward to next 2 weeks:
- Highlight: Oregon Best Ball golf tourney with best friend Matt and the highly anticipated Marra-Harding wedding!!! Can't wait!
- Lowlight: Missing Oregon Brewers Fest this weekend

Looking forward to next 3 weeks:
- Highlight: Another great friend's wedding in Bend! The Robinson-Cowart Nuptuals. Can't wait!
- Lowlight: Another weekend that we are gone from beautiful and exciting Portland!

OK that should catch you up on what is going on in our lives. And what we are looking forward to. What are YOU looking forward to? Any interesting lowlights as of late? Would love to hear some feedback! Until next time, don't get caught like a deer in the headlights! Or maybe you should...maybe it would be a great story...