Pets

Adventure is Barking

Trainer works with owners and pets in real world settings.

BY SAMANTHA DELEON

At Elite Home Professional, we;

• Schedule and monitor maintenance services while you’re away • Provide you with detailed home updates weekly • Protect your housing investment

WHO SAID LETTING THE DOGS OUT WAS A BAD THING? With Adventure is Barking, there is no limit to what you and your pet can do together; whether it’s dining out, shopping, outdoor adventure seeking or even participating in weekly training.

Adventure is Barking helps dog owners train their pets through “real world” situations, so dogs are prepared and trained for any number of settings. Sara Spevacek, owner and certified professional dog trainer, uses a variety of tools to find the best way to train each dog and owner. Her training philosophy is focused on the idea that “every person and dog learns differently, just like kids in school. So, we adapt our training styles to fit the individual,” says Spevacek of Mound.

All of its services are individualized to work with client needs and offer opportunities to train dogs outside of the traditional classroom, including private lessons in dog-friendly stores, venues and parks. Furthermore, Spevacek says it offers group training classes in those same environments to guarantee owners are ready to bring dogs to various settings.

Speaking of settings, Spevacek has a few favorite dog-friendly spots, including Back Channel Brewing Co. in Spring Lake Park. “We all know the patio life is big in our area, especially in the summers, but nobody enjoy the stressors of ill-behaved or ill-trained dogs in those settings, so we help prep you for that,” she says, also pointing to Wayzata’s CōV (her favorite dog-friendly patio) and The Hotel Landing as spots to visit.

Beyond meeting initial training goals, addressing the relationship between owner and pet doesn’t stop there.

Absentee homeowners partner with Elite Home Professional to help prevent problems that could arise during unoccupancy. Elite Home Professional is a licensed, bonded, insured and accredited member of the National Home Watch Association (NHWA). member of the National Home Watch Association (NHWA).

CONTACT MICHAEL FREY AT

952-426-5445 | elitehomeprofessional.com mfrey@elitehomeprofessional.com

Sara Spevacek and her dog, Kayak, keep the vibe calm while sharing a paddle board ride.

Spevacek offers her clients weekly, morning pack walks that include training lessons and weekend getaways, such as the planned Duluth retreat in September. “We hike by day and do yappy hours at night,” she says. “[It’s] a great opportunity to escape with your dog and meet other dog lovers.” She also regularly offers opportunities to try a new activity with dogs, such as paddle boarding and skijoring.

“Dogs have always been a passion, but it wasn’t until after college that I realized that I could turn my passion for teaching and my passion for dogs into a career,” Spevacek says. After graduating with a degree in teaching, she felt that a career within a school system wasn’t exactly for her. She began working as a receptionist for a large animal boarding business and, eventually, worked her way up to running its training facility. “It was truly the best of both worlds—dogs and teaching,” she says.

Client Carole Leomporra trains her goldendoodle, Rosie, with Adventure is Barking. “Sara is knowledgeable, savvy and has a wonderful way with dogs and human beings,” she says.

ADVENTURE IS BARKING 612.751.7277; adventureisbarking.com Adventure is Barking @adventureisbarking • In depth understanding of today’s market and trends • Experience and creativity for all of your real estate needs • Unmatched service and results • Awarded Top Producer & established Expert in the Lake Minnetonka Community

KRISTI WEINSTOCK | REALTOR® | COLDWELL BANKER REALTY 612-309-8332 | KDWEINSTOCK@CBREALTY.COM | WEINSTOCKGROUP.COM

written by

MADELINE KOPIECKI

photos by

CHRIS EMEOTT

LOCAL NONPROFIT TURNS STUMBLING BLOCKS INTO STEPPING STONES.

While Sara Swan has over two decades of experience in special education, she initially didn’t have plans to turn a one-off mentorship into a full-fledged organization. But, she ended up developing Looking Forward Life Coaching (LFLC), a nonprofit mentorship program that works alongside people who could use some assistance in a variety of ways.

Swan recalls that, while working at a local preschool, she had a conversation with one of her coworkers about the coworker’s son, who had difficulty in high school and was struggling in college. The coworker, who knew about Swan’s background in special education, asked if Swan could help.

Swan agreed and started meeting with Nate, and the two began setting goals, which they worked toward for about 20 months. “I turned to his mom and said, ‘Do you think this could ever be a profession for me?’” Swan says. It was Nate’s response that moved her forward. “He said, ‘Listen; there are so many people like me that are falling between the cracks that you need to help. Yes, you have to make this a business’” Swan says. “He’s been my inspiration ever since.”

With an office on the west side of the Metro, Swan says staff meets clients in their homes, coffee shops, restaurants, parks or virtually. “Honestly, if you name the suburb, I know where the Caribou and Starbucks are located. I have been to them all,” she says, illustrating the business’s geographic reach.

During her time working in the education system, Swan found that schools were very systemcentered, emphasizing a collegiate-focused model that might not be right for everyone. In 2001, Swan discovered an approach to challenge the formulaic strategy when she took a training course on person-centered thinking.

“It was like a light-bulb moment,” Swan says. “It takes an entirely different approach, where you’re looking at the person and seeing all the incredible, great things that the person has, does, is working toward, instead of focusing on the ways to put that person into a system. Some systems don’t work for people … they need different ways of support.”

While Swan wasn’t able to fit this approach into her teaching career at the time, this person-centered approach is now the mantra of LFLC. “We are able to tailor it to whatever the client needs,” Swan says. Topics include tutoring to prepare for the SAT/ACT, learning how to travel internationally, obtaining a driver’s license, honing interpersonal skills and more.

Nate has been working with Swan for 10 years. “She’s helped me get through college, find a career, prepare me to rent my first place and become independent,” Nate says. “Together, we turned what worked for me into Looking Forward Life Coaching.”

Another client, Jason, connected with LFLC two years ago when he decided he needed to find health-

ier ways of dealing with everyday struggles. “In my life prior to seeing her, I came up with my own coping that wasn’t helpful or productive in moving my life in a forward direction,” he says.

Jason continues to work on dealing with conflicts, both perceived and real. “[I’m] working to interpret my interactions with others correctly and then have the correct proportionate response,” he says, adding, “This comes out in my marriage, as well as other daily interactions.”

Swan says that the reason the organization is called Looking Forward is because mentors and clients spend their time together doing just that— looking forward. “We’re not therapists, we’re not social workers or anything like that, so we’re not focusing in on the past per se,” Swan says. “It’s more, ‘What are the tools that we can put into their tool box of life that can be beneficial to take them to the next steps in life?’”

In particular, Swan recalls a young woman, who wanted to move to North Carolina to be with her boyfriend. Working on a nine-month timeline, Swan and the client broke down the move step-by-step, including searching for an apartment, applying for identification and renewing her driver’s license. Up to the week before the move, Swan and the client worked to get everything ready.

Nearing moving day, Swan took the client out to lunch, bringing a box with her. “Our theme is changing stumbling blocks into stepping stones,” Swan says. “I gave her this box. In this box, I had taken rocks and on each one of the rocks I had written each one of those different goals: find an apartment, renew driver’s license, save up money, so on and so forth … I said, ‘Listen, this was you; you did this. I came alongside you and encouraged you, but this was you. You changed all these things that were once stumbling blocks into stepping stones, and, look, you get to get on the airplane tomorrow, and you’re moving to North Carolina.’”

About two weeks later, Swan connected with the client’s mom, who asked her about the box. When getting ready to fly off to her new life, her daughter couldn’t have cared less if she had her phone, iPad or luggage. “’She had to get on the airplane with that box of rocks. It had to be under her arm at all times,’” Sara recalls the mother saying. “And I said, ‘Well, that was her journey, and that’s a visual reminder that she did it. She got to that point.’”

Swan says she’s amazed at the reception LFLC has received, across the state and federally as a nonprofit. With 11 part-time staff members, serving communities throughout the Metro, Swan says an even broader, multistate online program is in the works. “I’m very humbled and in awe of that, and the fact that no matter what, every day we grow in one way or another, and that’s exciting and scary and wild to know that there is a need out there,” she says.

Looking Forward Life Coaching; 3222 Birch Place, Hopkins; 612.503.7414 lookingforwardlc.org Looking Forward Life Coaching

MORE ENCHANTED EVENINGS

Couple reimagines its island dream home.

BY RENÉE STEWART-HESTER

Forty-five years is plenty of time to put down roots. Deep within a family. Deep within a community. In 1976, Bob and Karen Morgan found an ideal space to grow their family and foster community friendships, and they owe it all to a bit of happy happenstance.

“Actually, we were lost when we stumbled into our lot purchase when we were 26 years old, and we have never regretted one moment,” Bob Morgan says of their Lake Minnetonka home on Enchanted Island. “[We] have been truly blessed to live here not only in this unique environment, but also in this very special community,” he says.

Since those early days on the lake, time marched on, and so did the Morgans’ lifestyle. With two grown daughters finding their own homes in the Twin Cities, the Morgans, like many other empty nesters, began to contemplate their “what’s next?”

That question can often circulate around the family home, where children were raised, family life was lived and memories were built. But as couples move into the next phase of life, there can be a dilemma— renovate or relocate to set a fresh course. The Morgans faced that quandary. In the end, those roots, established in the 1970s held firm, and renovation it was.

“Enchanted Island may be one of the most precious hidden gems on Lake Minnetonka,” Morgan says.

“When you come over the bridge onto the island, it feels like you have just transitioned into an Up North environment. The interior of the island is a beautiful wetland with large ponds and a channel that is adjacent to the main road.”

The Morgans turned to Magney Architecture to design the home of their reimagined dreams. “I realized early on that I wanted to team with interior designer Lindy McClure at Lindy McClure Design because the details, finishes, furnishings and fixtures were going to be important elements of this remodel,” Tammy Magney says. Boyer Building Corporation rounded out the team. “Boyer was the perfect complement to our team, adding their excellent carpentry skills, attention to detail and problem-solving expertise as it relates to the unique challenges of remodeling a home. They were awesome team players,” she says.

“[The Morgans] love sailing and boating, sunsets and moon rises, and most importantly, sharing lake life with family and friends ... Taking this as our primary vision guidelines, we were able to open up the existing plan to make it better for entertaining, both inside and outside,” Magney says. In a nutshell, the plan for the 1,620-square-foot main floor and 825-square-foot upper level was to create an open concept punctuated with a Nantucket-style décor—no space was left untouched, including replacing windows and doors “to emphasize our magnificent views and bring inside the beauty of

our environment,” Morgan says.

Once design concepts were ready to be put in motion, the entire project was divided into phases. Bob Boyer says work was done during four winters while the Morgans were wintering in Arizona. Because of the project’s scope, it was probably best that the couple relocated while work commenced. “We planned on working within the footprint of our existing house, but we wanted to open up the living and entertaining

spaces to fit our present lifestyle,” Morgan says. “Removing three walls in and around our kitchen remodel required a depth of experience and creativity to deal with the mechanical implications that Boyer handled beautifully.”

When asked to pinpoint a favorite element of the home, Morgan says there is more than just one, including the show-stopping bar area. “Following our nautical theme, we crafted the lower level to look like the inside of a boat, and we came up with the idea of creating a small bar that replicated the bow of a classic wooden boat [a la Chris-Craft],” he says. A custom builder from New Hampshire crafted the unique and beautiful component. Made of Honduras mahogany, the bar serves as a stunning conversation piece and practical entertaining element. The space also features boat bench seating, multiple port-style windows, nautical lighting and accessories—all wrapped in tony mahogany paneling.

Morgan also points to another standout element. “We also created possibly the most innovative skylight on the lake by constructing a lighthouse over our three story staircase,” he says. “We incorporated the lighthouse in the design to change the architecture from the ‘80s modern to the Nantucket look,” Magney says. “… With the main entrance to the house being up a full flight of steps, the lighthouse element is also a way to bring your eye up and kind of support the upper level entry.”

The land on which the home rests is embraced by Lake Minnetonka, and it clearly served as lifestyle and design inspiration for the Morgans. To underscore this, local artists Mary Henderson and Marla Mullaney created custom paintings for the new décor. Henderson’s oil work for the home (sailboat themed) includes Regatta, an original designed for over the home’s living room fireplace. She also painted Sunset for the Morgans, who also purchased

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other previously painted pieces. Mullaney’s commissioned work depicts the Morgans and their beloved dogs riding along Lake Minnetonka in a vintage ChrisCraft boat. The work’s placement is most fitting, as the oil on canvas painting hangs in the bar area.

With walls and windows removed and replaced; architectural and built-in elements in place; and décor and artwork on point, the Morgans were ready to take the helm of their home and Minnesota life. “As you walk through the home, you get the feeling you are already on the water,” Boyer says. “The use of blue and white contrasts in the cabinetry and the trim, give a fresh and whimsical feel to the home.”

Those fresh and whimsical touches welcome family and friends to the Morgan home—just as the couple had hoped—all while maintaining its status as a secluded get-a-way. “Some of our friends remark that it is a long way to get here, but part of its appeal, at least for us, is defined by what we refer to as its ‘conveniently remote’ setting,” Morgan says.

BOYER BUILDING CORPORATION 3435 County Road 101, Minnetonka 952.475.2097; boyerbuilding.com Boyer Building Corporation @boyerbuildingcorporation @boyerbuilding

MAGNEY ARCHITECTURE 540 Lake St., Excelsior 612.701.7117 magneyarchitecture.com Magney Architecture

LINDY MCCLURE DESIGN 952.484.9911 lindymccluredesign.com @lindy.mcclure.design

MARLA MULLANEY ART & DESIGN marlamullaneyart.com

MARY HENDERSON Mary K Henderson

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Home #13 — 2200 Platwood Road, Minnetonka

August 13-15

Friday-Sunday • 12-6 pm

DESIGN • BUILD • REMODEL www.NewSpaces.com 952-715-6972

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The Cedar Roof Man

KUHLS CONTRACTING: 1515 SOUTH 5TH STREET, HOPKINS, MN • 952.935.9469 www.kuhlscontracting.com

STRAIGHT TALK FROM STEVE KUHL

Let’s face it. Cedar roofs look great but owning one is a little scary. “Has it been damaged by hail?” “Will it blow off in a storm?” “I hear something chewing up there!” But despite what you may hear, your cedar roof is still one of the most beautiful and long-lasting products on the market. The only catch is you have take care of it. That’s where I come in. My free, written estimate includes a thorough analysis of your roof. Bringing over 25 years of experience to the table, I will evaluate its’ condition to determine whether or not maintenance, repairs or replacement is the best option for you. Worst case scenario you get a free Owner, Dad, Wood Roof Geek inspection from a true expert. Best case, we work our magic on your roof and add years to its lifespan. In fact, Kuhl’s Contracting is looked to for the evaluation and restoration of cedar roofs by more insurance companies, home inspectors, realtors and architects than any other company in Minnesota. Not to brag, but we are pretty awesome. Don’t take my word for it. Check out our talents at www.kuhlscontracting.com. Or ask around. We have probably done work for someone you know.

Before

Call us today to schedule your free estimate: 952-935-9469

I started this company in 1987. Since that time we have worked on thousands of homes around the Twin Cities. My approach to business has never wavered. Be honest, be reliable and do great work. As a result our list of happy clients grows daily.

After

Steve Kuhl’s Motivation Task Force

Giggle Manager Inventory Princess Hungry Hound

Other KUHL Capabilities:

•Asphalt, Cedar & Flat Roofing •Chimney & Masonry Repairs •Ice Dam Prevention •Siding & Carpentry •Remodeling

Five signs your cedar roof may need some TLC

1

Loose Nails & Staples

2

Cupping & Curling

3

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Moss & Algae

5

Evil Critters