It's that time of year again...

For presents, movies, fires, and Alex's Annual Top Ten (or 5 or 11 or whatever) Blog! Saddle up folks, this one might be good! If not, well there's always next year.





Top 5 Trips of the Year (lots to choose from!)
5. Ruby Springs Lodge, MT. Fishing, shooting, laughing, Moscow Muling.
4. Watercolor Beach, FL with Ashley's family. Sun, bikes, sun, beers, food, and sun. LOVED IT.
3. Camping with Molly and Will. Have you met them? You should.
2. Surprise visit to Georgia for Mother's Day. Holy surprise!
1. Did you have to ask? HONEYMOON!!!! DUH.

Top 8 phrases of the year
8. Brotally (hybrid of bro and totally)
7. Y.O.L.O. (You Only Live Once - thanks Chris Brickell for that one!)
6. "Toyota Service, how may I help you?" Glad those days are over!
5. "Chevrolet Service, what's the problem with YOUR car?" Glad those are over too!!
4. "You gotta get your veggg". Worker in Antigua on why they eat so healthy there.
3. GO DUCKS. Need I say more?
2. "I DO". I said that on March 20.
1. "I DO". She said that on March 20. SCORE!

Top 10 Books Read this year
Oh wait, I didn't read that many. Some honorable mentions..."Little Bee", "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years", "Don't Blink"

Top 5 Favorite TV Shows of the Year
5. The Office
4. Keeping up with the Kardashians. Wait, what?
3. Modern Family - Laugh out loud every episode!!
2. The Biggest Loser
1. Survivor!!!

Top 5 games of the year!
5. Catchphrase!
4. Yahtzee!!
3. Battle of the Sexes!!!
2. Words with Friends!!!!
1. SCATEGORIES!!!!!

Top 5 Family Members
5. Really, you tought I'd actually do that?? Pfff.

Top ? Things Learned this year
1. Ashley is a great chef!
2. Ashley is a great launderer!
3. Alex is neither (see "failed steak dinner" and "shrunken sweater" categories)
4. Ashley loves making things. Wreathes, plants, Christmassy things, creative things
5. Alex loves to run but never does it......
6. Ashley actually liked Spin class!
7. So did Alex
8. Still got the magic...sold 11 cars this year and didn't work 1 day in the Sales Department!
9. Drove approximately 12 cars this year...liked the Toyota Sequoia the best.
10. Ashley is a great wife...but you already knew that, didn't you?

Top 5 iPhone Apps. Am I a geek or what?
5. ForkFly. Coupons in Portland galore!!
4. Twitter
3. Words with Friends
2. PDXBus (saved our butts many times!!)
1. Facetime. How freaking cool is that?

Are you tire of this yet??? ME NEITHER!!


Top 3 Marriage Moments
3. Ashley's Birthday. She finally got a good one!
2. Christmas tree decorating. It was interesting.... but we ended up friends, so it worked out.
1. Honeymoon. End of story.

Top 5 things Ashley caught while fishing in Montana
5. A bush
4. A bridge
3. A hat
2. the boat
1. A FISH!!!

Top CD's of the year
3. Jamie Cullum. What that this year or last? Can't remember. Who cares it was good!
2. Project 4. Shout out to Mark Wade! Buy it in iTunes...support him...
1. Dave Barnes Christmas Album. BUY IT NOW, QUICK!

Top New People Met or struck up a friendship with this year. To be PC, there is no order here!
1. Brody (www.nivenspt.com). Once an enemy (kind of in high school - we were idiots). Now a friend and getting me in shape!!
1. Terah soon to be Wade. A wonderful addition to the Wade family!
1. Molly. Funny how you meet people and take it from there!
1. Gene. Your architectural plans will shape my future. Literally!
1. Will. Have you met him yet? Why not?
1. Eric. Duck fan, loud like me = great guy!
1. Whitney. Also a Duck fan, keeps Eric in order, easy to hang with!

Top 6 Memories from 2010
6. December 9, 2010. 1st Annual Casebeer Ornament Exchange! What a night!
5. June 18,2010. Watercolor Beach, FL. LOVED IT!
4. March 21, 2010. First day of the best vacation ever...aka HONEYMOON!
3. December 4, 2010. Civil War win sends DUCKS to the National Championship game!!!!
2. February 9, 2010. RRRRHHHOOODDDDEEESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!
1. March 20, 2010. BOOM. MARRIED!

Well friends, its been a great year. Maybe I'll be better at posting more next year. I hope so! I hope that your 2010 has been wonderful as well, but you know what? 2011 is going to be a great one regardless. Starting with a DUCK victory on January 10!!! Anyway, enjoy the Christmas season and until next time, make a top 10 memory before the year is over. You won't regret it!

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!