Staying Connected

My (Cassie) Grandma Margaret instilled in me the art of letter writing at a young age.  She modeled to me the importance of staying connected with those that she loved, her friends and family, whether they were near or far.  She and I started to correspond by letters when I was six years old and this practice continued weekly until she moved on to a better place.  For this reason, things that I value and am willing to spend “extra” money on are greeting cards, postage and plane tickets.  Just last month I took some vacation days to head up north and spend time with some very special people in my life.

My first stop was LA to meet the young and beautiful Maya Song.  She is the daughter of one of my favorite people in this whole-wide world, Mandy.  In LA, I also had a lot of quality time with my cousin and great friend Jessica.  The three of us, the baby, and sometimes their significant others, had a wonderful few days together.

Sweet Maya Song

I am loving Maya, but she seems bored with me in this photo.

We spent an afternoon at Huntington Beach, which is a beautiful place, but has nothing on Nicaraguan beaches.

Mini-golf outing on the last day.  I beat Bobby Liu with my terrible golf skills!

After four days in LA, I headed North to Seattle to visit a very special college friend, Chelsea and her new baby James Hudson.  I took a course in Seattle on Trauma Informed Practice (super interesting) and then we headed up to Lydnen for Mother’s Day Weekend.  It was such an honor to have time with Chels, James, Jay and their extended family.

 

Enjoying downtown Seattle with James Hudson.

Ladies night out in Bellingham.

Sunday afternoon winery visit with the beautiful scenery of Washington.

College friends for life!

The last leg of my trip was to Minnesota.  I was honored to be a bridesmaid in my cousin Sarah’s gorgeous and joyful wedding.  Sarah was stunning, the ceremony was meaningful and we had such a blast dancing the night away.  While in MN, we were also able to celebrate Ceanna’s first birthday.  Her puppy themed party was a big hit!  I also enjoyed quality time with my family and a couple of friends.  The five days went way too fast, but they were well worth it.

The beautiful bride and her mom, my Auntie Suz.

Ceanna and I hanging out before the wedding.

 

Post wedding fun.  Love these three and their joy for life!

Family photo sans Kevin – these people make it hard to live far away!

   

Ceanna is one!

After a morning of “wedding duties,” we hit the bike trails.  I loved this time with my siblings and mom.

 

Claire flew back from Colorado with her girls and we spent a day together, along with our childhood friend Sarah.  These girls are the best!

Now I am back in Managua with mi amor, Kevin.  I missed his birthday party, so we have done some celebrating this week.  Although he was left with a pretty neat scavenger hunt.  It is good to be back in the heat of Managua, hanging out with the neighbor kids, sweating as I walk to the bus each morning, teaching in the classroom, talking and laughing in Spanish, eating fresh pineapple and living life with those around me.