Melissa Haase

Melissa Haase is a wife, mother of three, veterinarian, and knitter, living in historic Stillwater, MN. Melissa grew up in Hastings, Nebraska in an average middle america family with her parents and older sister. Staying close to “home” (ahem...home is synonymous for boy), she attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Melissa married her high school sweetheart, Aaron, nearly 17 years ago. After a brief stint working in broadcasting, she decided to pursue her original major and childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian. Taking a homegrown Nebraska boy to Kansas for veterinary school should be considered one of her major life achievements. She received her veterinary degree from Kansas State University in 2008. After graduation, she and Aaron, two golden retrievers, and a cat moved to Stillwater, where she began working in a small animal practice. Once again moving her husband to the arctic north, practically Canada, and NOT back to The Good Life....did not win her any bonus points in the wife category. Melissa now works at Birch Lake Animal Hospital in White Bear Lake, MN. She enjoys meeting new clients with their pets and hearing the stories that make us all realize how unique the human-animal bond is. She now lives with a retired show champion, a 6 year old golden named Sparrow and the cat she acquired in veterinary school, a 7 year old calico named Katie. Most times it feels like a small zoo. Getting a later start than most of her friends, having a family didn’t come easy to Melissa and Aaron. They were overjoyed to finally welcome their son Jackson in November 2010. Jackson, 3, is charming, funny, and has more spunk than an entire classroom of preschoolers. Melissa is also mom to Audrey Rose, a beautiful, happy 6 month old little girl and a beautiful, heavenly angel, Nicholas George. Melissa loves nearly anything crafty. She learned to knit one Friday night her freshman year in vet school after wrapping up a long week with happenin’ night of wine, girlfriends, yarn, and husbands...not in any particular order of importance. The first thing she knit was a hot pink scarf with two cream colored stripes with yarn and needles borrowed from her friend, Meghann. Knitting has brought very special people into Melissa’s life over the last 10 years. Her latest project “Knitting For Nicholas” has blessed her life like a beautifully hand-crafted blanket could warm a child.